


Omnia Sol Temperat

by rosslyn_russell



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/F, Fake Marriage, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Green Card Marriage, also, clexa fake marriage au, deported au, german lexa, lexa and raven's bromance is real
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-09-24 04:29:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9701654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosslyn_russell/pseuds/rosslyn_russell
Summary: Another Clexa fake marriage AU nobody asked for. Social worker Clarke and German postdoc Lexa enter into a hasty green card marriage after Lexa gets a letter informing her that her permanent residence status is in danger. With a little push from Clarke's best friend and Lexa's roommate, Raven, Clarke (drunkenly) volunteers to marry Lexa out of sympathy and desperation to escape her shithole apartment in Harlem. Now they are faced with the challenge of convincing their friends, family, and the USCIS that they are a legitimate newlywed couple, while adapting to life as newly cohabitating acquaintances and getting to know each other better. Naturally, fluff (and eventual smut) ensues.





	1. Deported

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever, so I'm not sure how people will receive it. I'm just posting this snippet of the first chapter to see if any of y'all would be interested in reading more?
> 
> Any questions, comments, concerns, would be greatly appreciated. I have no beta, so there may be mistakes.
> 
> You can also find me at Lesbotps on Tumblr.
> 
> Enjoy!

"No." Raven said looking at the piece of paper in her hands with disbelief.

Lexa sat hunched over at the kitchen table with her head in her hands and just nodded, defeated.

"How is this even possible?" Raven threw the paper down, fury building in her stomach, "You've lived here for like-"

"10 years," Lexa said, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms.

"10 years! How the fuck can they do this to you?!"

"Apparently inheriting property from my dead parents and working in Germany for 9 months is enough for the government to think I've 'abandoned my U.S. residence'" Lexa said, letting out a dry, humorless laugh, still trying to process everything.

Ten years. _Ten years_ Lexa had spent building a life for herself in this country. She came here to escape her empty, inherited house in Stuttgart, she earned her Bachelors, and PhD here, she reconnected with her remaining living relatives here. There is nothing left for her in Germany but reminders of a life she can never know again. She leaves the U.S. for a few months for some Postdoc work and now she has to give it all up. Fucking incredible. _Einfach unglaublich_.

Lexa sat back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, feeling her resolve begin to crumble.

"How the hell am I going to afford this place with you gone?" Raven asked as she plopped down across from Lexa at the table.

"I'm glad to know that's your primary concern."

"I can't do Craigslist again, I won't."

"You found me on Craigslist."

"Yeah and look where that got me!" Raven exclaimed, "Deported! Un-fucking-believable."

Lexa grunted in agreement.

At that moment, Raven's best friend Clarke walked in the front door.

"Honey, I'm home!" She called into the apartment, she could be heard taking off her coat and kicking off her shoes.

Clarke often stopped by unannounced after work in an effort to avoid being at her own apartment at the same time as her roommate, whom Lexa knew only as 'Satan'.

"In the kitchen," Raven yelled.

"I brought beer-" Clarke froze in the doorway when she saw the two downtrodden faces at the table, "Shit who died?"

Raven said nothing but got up to grab a six pack from Clarke's hands, cracking one open and taking a long swig.

"That bad, huh?" Clarke grabbed a beer for herself and walked over to lean on the table. She took a sip and looked expectantly between the two sullen faces, "You at least going to tell me what's got you two looking like someone just kicked your puppy?"

"I'm getting deported," Lexa said quietly.

"What?" Clarke's eyes widened as she looked between the other two women.

"Deported!" Raven burst suddenly, dramatically slamming her beer onto the table, "Ousted, dunzo, evicted. The gov'ment is sending her back to the old country."

Lexa groaned and grabbed a beer for herself, downing half in one long gulp.

"You've lived here forever, though. Don't you have a green card?"

"Not anymore," Lexa mused, swishing her beer around before taking another drink.

"This one over here just _had_ to go around inheriting half of Germany and denouncing the constitution," Raven gestured at Lexa, exasperated, "Burning American flags, purchasing Nazi paraphernalia,"

Clarke quirked her eyebrow at Lexa, "Nazi paraphernalia?"

Lexa rolled her eyes, waving off Raven's hysterics, "In order to maintain U.S. residency, I have to reduce ties to my home country," she explained, "In the last year, I lived and worked in Germany for too long. I should have known better," she muttered the last part, bringing the bottle back to her lips.

"That's fucking bullshit, Lex, I'm sorry," Clarke consoled, patting the brunette on the shoulder.

"What about me? What am I supposed to do?" Raven interjected, "At least she has a place to live back in the motherland, I'm going to be out on my ass without a roommate!"

"Don't be such a drama queen, Ray, you could always move back in with Bell and Miller," Clarke offered.

"Don't you _dare_ " Raven leveled the blond with a glare, "My fratboy days are over."

Clarke simply shrugged, "Well my lease is up in May, I'll move in with you. Lord knows I need to get away from Satan anyway. It'll be fun, like in college,"

Raven scoffed, chucking a napkin across the table at her, "Sorry Clarkey, but you couldn't afford these digs."

She looked utterly offended.

"What? Yes I could, how much is it a month?"

"$2600 plus utilities," Lexa chimed in, cracking open another beer.

" _Each_?!" her eyes widened, "Fuck I'm out."

Raven groaned and lowered her head to the table.

"Too bad you don't have any anchor babies," Clarke mused.

That at least made Lexa chuckle. Suddenly Raven's head shot up from the table, looking crazed.

 "That's it!" She exclaimed, "Clarke, you're a genius!"

Lexa's eyes widened in surprise, "What's it? I am _not_ getting pregnant."

Clarke let out a howl at the horrified look on Lexa's face, "Raven, when two women love each other very much..."

"No no, not the baby part, but an anchor _wife!_ You just need to get married!" Raven was nearly out of her chair with excitement.

"Married," Lexa repeated, incredulous.

"Yes, married," Raven sat back and smugly crossed her arms across her chest, "We just need to find you a wife." Like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Okay, Reyes, I think you've had enough to drink," Lexa got up from the table, clearing the array of bottles that had accumulated.

"I'm serious, Woods!"

Lexa rolled her eyes as she dumped the bottles into the recycling bin.

"That actually might not be a bad idea. It worked in The Proposal," Clarke offered.

Lexa turned suddenly to the blonde, shooting her a disbelieving look. "You can't be serious. How do you suggest I find a wife in time for the hearing in.." she picked up the offending piece of paper and squinted at it, " _a month_?"

"Mail order, Tinder, Craigslist, random proposals on the street," Raven listed, "Oh! Roadtrip to Vegas!"

"No, no, stop. It'd never work," she tried to reason, waving her off, "I haven't even been with anyone since Costia. If I haven't found a girlfriend in the last four years, I definitely won't find a wife in four weeks. I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and go back."

She let out a long sigh, sitting back down in defeat.

"Damn, Woods, it's been that long? Your game is weak," Raven took another swig, "You really are fucked."

Lexa rubbed her face with her hands. She couldn't believe this was really happening. Her whole life was here now. She'll have to give up her job, her friends, all of her living family, her apartment-

"I'll do it."

It was so casual, like offering to take out the trash. Both Lexa and Raven looked up in surprise at the blonde.  

"What?" Clarke shrugged.

" _What?_ No, absolutely n-"

"YES!" Raven yelled, her eyes lighting up with glee, "It's perfect! Yes!"

"Are you accepting a proposal for me?" Lexa asked the crazed girl across from her.

"Are you _joking_ Woods?" Raven asked, incredulous, "Griffin is smoking hot, not a complete stranger, at least like 35% sane, and _offering_ to be your fake wife. This is a golden offer!"

"Thank you, Raven." Clarke said smugly, "Come on, Commander, wanna get hitched?"

She winked at Lexa, who gaped between her two friends like they had suddenly grown four heads, "Are you guys _insane_?"

Raven leaned eagerly across the table, "Lexa, think about it: You'll get to stay in the U.S, I get to keep this beautiful roof over my head, _and_ as a bonus, you get to tell people you married that hot piece of ass," she gestured at Clarke who finished off a bottle of beer and shot them a brilliant smile.

"Win-win."

"Yeah, and what do _you_ get out of it?" Lexa asked the glassy eyed blonde.

"I get to piss off my mother and move out of my shit hole apartment in East Harlem," she replied easily.

Raven was nodding vigorously, "See? Win-win."

Lexa looked between the other two women, trying to determine if they were serious or just drunk. Or worse, both.

"Lexa, this could actually work. Hear me out," Raven gave her a serious look, "You and Clarke have already known each other for a few years, so it wouldn't be like starting from scratch. We'll just act like you guys have been together for a while, post some more pictures of you guys out and about and bam! Marital bliss. The government will never know the difference."

Lexa bit her lip in contemplation. Could this actually work? She couldn't believe she was really considering this.

"If I agree to this," she started, Raven's face lighting up already, "I said _IF_ ," Raven schooled her expression and bid her continue, "I want to ensure everyone is benefiting equally from this arrangement."

She turned to look Clarke directly in the eyes, "If you are serious about doing this for me, I want there to be terms to our agreement," the blonde nodded, "This will not be easy."

Raven observed the two in front of her anxiously, sitting on the edge of her seat.

Clarke grabbed the empty bottle in front of her and started tearing at the label, "Like I said Woods, if you can get a rise out of my mom and my ass out of Harlem, I'm yours."

Raven was bouncing in her chair now. Lexa regarded the blonde seriously before speaking again, "Before we go making any kind of agreement, I want you to sleep on it and we'll renegotiate terms in the morning."

Ignoring her, Clarke suddenly stood up and got down on one knee in front of Lexa, "Alexandrea the Great Woods, would you do me the honor marrying me and getting my ass south of 135th street?"

Lexa gawked between the tiny shred of IPA label tied into a makeshift ring and the kneeling drunk girl holding it out to her.

"Clarke, this would not be some willy-nilly game of playing marriage for a few days, you realize you are offering to legally _marry_ me, right?"

"Yup."

"And if we get caught lying, we could _go to jail_."

"Mhmm," Clarke's face remained unfazed, though she swayed a little in her kneeling position.

"I'm still going to ask you again in the morning, because you are drunk," and because she didn't want to get her hopes up that this could really work.

"Are you going to answer the question or not, Lex, I'm too old to kneel for this long."

Lexa's skeptical face was only betrayed by the slight quirk in the corner of her mouth, "My middle name is Hida, by the way, you should probably know that."

"Is that a yes, Woods?"

Lexa smiled, rolling her eyes and gave Clarke her hand.

"Oh lordy lord, looks like we got ourselves a weddin'!" Raven whooped, running into the kitchen as Clarke slipped the paper ring on her finger (after missing a few times).

Raven reemerged with a bottle of cheap champagne left over from New Years and for the first time since receiving that letter, Lexa let herself relax. Maybe things were actually going to be okay.


	2. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke wakes up to face the consequences of the night before. Raven plays therapist and then lawyer. Lexa's ears are in a perpetual state of red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I am so blown away by the fact that some of you guys like this so much. Thank you so much for all of your kind comments, they mean a lot to me. Here is the rest of what I have for the first chapter.

Clarke woke up to a splitting headache and an incessant buzzing in her ear.

As she came to, a few things became apparent to her. First, that she, Raven, and Lexa had gotten _way_ too drunk last night, as made evident by her current position, laying face down on Raven's living room floor, squished between the couch and the coffee table with her head feeling like it was about to explode. The next thing she noticed was that the relentless buzzing against her cheek was her phone going off repeatedly.

She lifted her head gingerly off the floor to peer at the screen through the tiny slits her eyes were willing to make.

_Shit._

Her phone was lighting up with what appeared to be hundreds of notifications and texts and missed calls. When she saw the time, she panicked for a moment that she was more than three hours late for work, before realizing that it was only Sunday. She let her head fall heavy on her hand for support. What the fuck happened last night?

When she unlocked her phone, her instagram account was open and the little heart in the bottom corner of the screen told her that she had-

"253 notifications?!" She gaped at the number, suddenly feeling much more awake. What the _fuck_ happened last night?

She sat up quickly, which her head adamantly protested, and clicked on the notification icon. When the screen loaded, she saw that a picture she had posted last night had gotten over 240 likes and a dozen or so comments.

That's rarely a good sign, especially given she doesn't even remember posting anything last night.

Please don't be naked. Please don't be naked. Please God don't be naked.

She clicked on the picture to enlarge it and saw that it was only of her, obviously from last night, laughing, full and genuine, and popping a bottle of champagne (fully clothed). Oh thank God.

How many bottles did they drink last night? She still didn't understand why she had gotten such a strong reaction for this picture, though. Sure, she's pretty and that shirt makes her tits look great, but-

Suddenly she looked at the caption and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

_The glowing bride to be! #engayged_

Oh. She cursed to herself. _Of course_ she would agree to marry someone on a whim and then drunkenly post about it before she could think like a rational human being.

Clarke pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes against the ungodly sunlight coming through the open curtains. What was she _thinking_?

The memories of last night slowly began coming back to her. Lexa's deportation letter, the alcohol, her brilliant fucking idea volunteering to marry the girl, the alcohol...Lexa's dejected face when she was talking about going back to Germany; her smile, full and uninhibited, as they danced and celebrated early into the morning.

"Shit," she mumbled into the empty room.

When she reopened her eyes, she closed out the app to check the rest of her notifications. That was when she noticed she had 36 missed calls and twice as many text messages from her mother, the last of which she could see began with:

_Do you have ANY idea what it feels like to find out your dau-_

" _Nope_." She said, tossing the device on the coffee table. It's way too early for this shit.

She sat back against the couch and took a deep breath, her thoughts reeling. What was she thinking? There had to be a way out of this.

If she needed anyone's advice right now, it was Raven's. Her best friend could help her sort through this whole mess. Maybe Lexa forgot about her offer? She groaned inwardly at the awkward conversation she was going to have to have with her later.

She got up as quickly as her woozy head would allow and padded down the hall toward Raven's room. As she passed Lexa's bedroom, she could hear the girl's voice coming from inside and winced at the thought of having to confront her later. Just as she was about to knock on Raven's door, she heard her name float over from across the hall amid the conversation.

Naturally, because she has zero self-control, she tiptoed across the hallway and leaned her ear against the door to hear what she could of the conversation going on on the other side.

"I don’t know, An," Lexa groaned. She seemed to be on the phone with someone, "We were all so drunk last night, she probably forgot about it already."

A guilty pang resonated in her chest. She certainly hadn't forgotten about it, and it seems Lexa hadn't either.

"What _you're_ going to do? I don't even want to _think_ about moving back into that house again, but-" she heard Lexa take a long shaky breath, "I think I'm just going to have to go back, Anya."

Anya...Oh. _That_ Anya. Clarke vaguely recalled Raven telling her about Lexa's cousin whom she so elegantly described as "walking sex with the disposition of an ice queen."

"No, no. It's not like they'll kick me out tomorrow, I'll have time to fly out and-"

Clarke could hear Anya speaking loudly, yet indistinctly, on the other end of the phone call.

"I promise I won't leave without saying goodbye," she seemed to choke on the last word, "Who knows? Maybe a miracle will pull through and I'll find some other way around it...No, I know it's a long shot, I just-" she choked out a sob, " _Ich kann es einfach nur nicht glauben_ ," suddenly there was nothing but the sound of sniffling and quiet sobs.  

Clarke felt a heavy sensation settle in her chest. Whether it was guilt, or sadness, or something else entirely, she didn't know. All she knew was that she shouldn't be listening to this.

As quietly as she could, Clarke backed away from the door and turned to resume her trek to the other room when she was met with Raven's smug face. She froze.

"Good morning, sunshine," Raven smirked knowingly, "trouble in paradise already?"

"Shhh!" Clarke hissed, clapping her hand over Raven's mouth and pushing her into her room. She shut the door behind them and slumped against it, covering her burning face with her hands.

"Jesus Christ, Raven, could you be any more of an asshole?" Clarke groaned through her fingers.

Raven simply sauntered over to her bed and plopped down, chuckling, "Hey, I'm not the one eavesdropping on people's private conversations."

"I was not _eavesdropping_ , I was just-" Raven raised her brow at her.

Damn her smug face.

"Okay, so maybe I was eavesdropping," Clarke huffed as she eased away from the door and made her way over to collapse on the bed next to Raven, who took her head in her lap and began to play with her hair.

"So you gonna to tell me what made you go all Nancy Drew on the Commander out there?"

Leave it to Raven to ease into anything.

Clarke groaned and buried her face in Raven's lap.

"Is this about you having second thoughts about your valiant Green Card proposal last night?"

She looked up at her friend in earnest, "Am I a horrible person?"

Raven offered her a sympathetic smile, "Nah, Clarke. You're one of the best people I know," she scratched at her scalp soothingly, "That's why I wasn't surprised when you leaped to Lexa's rescue last night."

Clarke smiled weakly back at her. Of all of the reasons she had spinning around in her head this morning not to go through with this insane plan, all she could think about now was the sound of Lexa crying on the phone just across the hall.

"She's really upset, Ray."

"Of course she is, Clarke, she's about to lose everything she's worked for over the past decade. Her entire adult life," Raven shrugged, "Could _you_ imagine if someone made you pack up and go back to your life in Chicago with your mom?"

Clarke considered it for a second, imagined having to go back to her childhood home to live with her distant mother and the memories of her dead father. She shuddered at the thought.

"Listen, I can't tell you what to do," Raven soothed as she eased Clarke's head from her lap and began to scoot off the bed, "but I _can_ tell you that you have a chance to seriously impact that girl's life and put some good karma out into the Universe."

Clarke didn't say anything back but stared up at the ceiling in deep contemplation. Taking everything in.

"And know that whatever decision you make, I'll still love you," Raven leaned down to plant a kiss on Clarke's forehead, "but I'll certainly love you a lot more comfortably from under these beautiful 10-foot ceilings," she threw over her shoulder as she left the room to leave Clarke to her thoughts.

These _are_ some nice tall ceilings.

Clarke lay on Raven's bed for a while longer pondering the light fixture above her head. She weighed the pros and cons and wrestled with her own reservations, but by the time she got up in search of some breakfast and coffee almost an hour later, she knew what she was going to do.

 

 

Clarke trudged into the kitchen to find Lexa sitting at the table already, newspaper open and bowl of oatmeal in hand.

"Morning, Lex," she tossed over her shoulder as she beelined to the coffee maker for a cup of some hot, liquid heaven.

"Good morning Clarke," Lexa replied evenly, offering Clarke a tight lipped smile.

Clarke could sense her unease from across the room. When she turned to join her at the table, she got a chance to really look at her for the first time all morning. She was surprised to find her fully showered and dressed and certainly not looking like she had been drinking all night (or crying this morning).

Clarke plopped down at the table with her large mug of coffee, dropping her head in her hands with a groan.

"You look well this morning," Lexa smirked, not looking up from her newspaper.

"I feel like death," Clarke uttered into her mug as she brought it to her lips.

"You know, a light run in the morning does wonders," she offered as she turned a page of her paper and stole a glance at the blonde across from her.

"Ugh, fuck off," Clarke grumbled, "How are you so put together right now?"

Lexa's mouth turned up in a smug smile, "I'm German, Clarke. We don't get hangovers,"

"You're so full of shit, Commander," Raven scoffed, as she entered the kitchen, also going straight for the coffee.

Lexa opened her mouth to retort, "I am not-"

"I heard you puke in the shower this morning."

Lexa closed her mouth and went back to eating her oatmeal, cheeks red.

The three of them sat in a long moment of intense silence. Raven sipped her coffee from the counter and looked between the other two expectantly, rolling her eyes when neither of them made a move to start a conversation. Fucking hopeless.

"Well as fun as this has been, I best be off, kiddies," Raven said, exaggeratedly stretching her arms over her head as she headed towards the front door, coffee mug still in hand, "you know how busy Sundays are with all that…laundry and uh…church…and such."

Lexa's eyes followed Raven suspiciously for a moment before she thought better of it and returned her attention to the newspaper sprawled out in front of her. On her way out of the kitchen, Raven shot Clarke a meaningful look from behind Lexa's head, gesturing wildly between the two of them with her chin. Clarke couldn't believe she was leaving her to do this alone. She gave her friend a pleading look, begging her to stay, but all she got in return was an unhelpful wink and a thumbs up before Raven was out of sight and could be heard closing the front door behind her. This left nothing standing in between the other two girls and the conversation neither of them wanted to have.

They sat there for a few moments in tense silence before Clarke couldn't take it anymore.

"So, about last night-"

"Look, Clarke, I totally understand," Lexa said quickly before she could finish, looking at her with eyes that were somehow both pleading and sympathetic. She quickly looked back down at her bowl, ears tinged red as she rambled forward, "We were all pretty hammered last night, and things just got out of hand-"

"Lexa, I-" Clarke started before she was cut off again.

"No, really, It's okay," she fiddled with the corners of the paper in front of her, eyes everywhere but on the blonde's face, "I never really expected you to-"

"Lexa!" Clarke interjected sharply, finally getting the girl to focus on her. Lexa's hands froze in their assault on the paper's edges and her green eyes snapped up to look at Clarke, her attention rapt and unwavering. Clarke took a deep breath and pushed on, "What I was _trying_ to say was that...I meant what I said last night and I'm still on board if you are."

Silence. Lexa looked as though she might have short circuited. Like Clarke had just grown wings and flown about the room.

"What?" She asked dumbly, mouth slightly agape in surprise.

"I'm in, Lexa," Clarke said, looking the girl in the eyes, "That is, if you still want me."  

Lexa looked as though she was still trying to interpret what she had said. Making sure she got it right. She looked down at the table for a second in deep thought, before looking back up at Clarke seriously.

"Are you sure?" She asked. Her voice was no longer nervous, but it carried a tone of uncertainty.

"Yes, Lexa, I'm sure." Clarke said, trying to sound as assuring as possible.

Skepticism lingered behind intense green eyes as though she thought Clarke might be playing some cruel joke on her.

"You're _sure_ sure? Because, Clarke, this won't be-"

"Lexa, I've thought this through and I promise, I want to do this," Clarke said sternly, leaning across the table to take her hand reassuringly.

Lexa looked down at Clarke's hand covering her own before looking up to regard her carefully. There was a pregnant pause.

"Okay," she said slowly, as though she still didn't fully believe her, "but if at _any_ point, it becomes too much, just say the word and I won't hold it against you."

"Of course," Clarke assured, smiling softly at her and giving her hand a small squeeze before letting go, "But I don't think you'll need to worry about that," She added as she got up to put her dishes in the sink.

"Oh?" Lexa gave her a questioning look as she brought her tea cup to her lips. Clarke busied herself with rinsing out her mug.

"Yeah, I uh-apparently plastered the good news all over the internet last night, so there's no going back now," she winced.

" _What?"_ Lexa sputtered, choking on the sip of tea she was taking.

"I know, I'm sorry," Clarke grimaced, turning to face her, "Are you mad?"

"No I-" she coughed, "I'm j-" Clarke went over to pat her on the back as she continued to struggle.

"I'm just surprised," she finally choked out.

"Yeah, drunk Clarke can't keep a secret, you should probably know that about me," she offered, her hand still rubbing Lexa's back.

Lexa gave her an easy smile, eyes still burning from her coughing fit, "Oh yeah? What else should I know about you?"

"Eh, I'm pretty simple, "Clarke shrugged, squeezing Lexa's shoulder before returning to her seat, "Just take my phone away when I'm drunk and don't feed me after midnight and you should be fine. You know, the usual stuff."

Lexa laughed, shaking her head. One thing that was certain was that things had always been easy between Clarke and her. Though they rarely spent much time alone together, whenever they did, they always enjoyed each other's company. No airs of expectation or awkwardness. Just easy. There were certainly worse people to be spending time with, and if they were really doing this, they were going to be spending a lot of time together.

"So seriously, though," Lexa said, leaning back in her chair and toying with her mug, "You're sure you're okay with this?"

"I don't know, I might change my mind if you keep asking me," Clarke quipped.

Lexa gave her a serious look.

"I'm in, okay? I promise, Lexa," she held out her pinky for Lexa to take, "No taksies-backsies."

"Okay," Lexa said, sitting up to link her pinky with Clarke's, a small smile forming at the corners of her mouth, "Then let's negotiate those terms."

 

 

Raven walked into her apartment and stopped in her tracks when she saw Clarke still sitting at her kitchen table, laughing at a story Lexa was animatedly recounting.

Well that's got to be a good sign.

"And so I went up to the clerk and was like 'excuse me ma'am, where do you keep the Mais?' and she gives me this look, like I was a complete lunatic and goes 'uh, the pet store?'"

The two girls burst out in hysterical laughter.

"Oh my God that poor woman probably thought you escaped the home," Clarke wheezed, running her fingers under her eyes to catch the tears of laughter.

"Hello, ladies," Raven said, announcing her presence as she strolled into the kitchen.

Their laughter died down as Clarke and Lexa turned to greet her.

"Hey Ray."

"What's up, Reyes."

They said in unison. Raven tossed her empty coffee mug into the sink (which she was still holding from this morning), and turned to look at the other two women expectantly.

"I see we're looking more cheerful than when I left," she began, crossing her arms, "Does this mean..."

Lexa and Clarke exchanged a sidelong glance before Lexa relented.

"Clarke and I are drawing up terms to a marriage agreement," she said, gesturing to a piece of notebook paper laying on the table between them.

"Ohh, let me see, let me see," Raven squealed.

She scurried over to the table and sat down, snatching the contract from Lexa's hand. The other two watched as Raven scanned the sheet of paper, nodding her head here and there.

"Awesome," she finally said, slapping the contract back down on the table with a grin, "Now all we need is for Cammando to get us some pizza and wings, and I bet we can bang the rest of this bad boy out before dark."

Lexa looked incredulous, "Wait, why do _I_ have t-"

"Woah woah woah," Clarke interjected, "Shouldn't Lexa and I be the ones to draw up _our_ marriage contract?"

Raven waved her off, already pulling her phone from her pocket to dial the pizzeria, "It's always wise to have an unbiased third party present to ensure no one is getting screwed over," she said smoothly, motioning for Lexa to toss over her wallet, "I'll be like your lawyer, or the referee or whatever."

"Unbiased my ass," Lexa grumbled, relenting her wallet to Raven before going over to the fridge and pulling out what remained of the beer from the night before.

 

 

"Clarke, I seriously doubt 'booshie this bitch up' is a legal term," Raven snorted as she scribbled Clarke's terms onto the piece of paper, which was starting to look more like a wild game of MASH and less like a legal contract.

There were bottles and pizza crusts littering the entire table. Once they had finally gotten past the "no sex anywhere Raven touches" clause, which Clarke and Lexa had both insisted (with burning faces) that there was _zero_ need for, it was Clarke's turn to name her price.

"Those are my conditions," she shrugged, "No booshie, no bride."

"You're too much Griffin," Raven chuckled, shaking her head, "So when are you moving in?" She asked, looking between the other two women.

Lexa and Clarke exchanged wide eyed shrugs.

"We hadn't exactly gotten that far yet," Clarke confessed.

"Well it should be soon, right? I mean, if we're going to sell this thing, we should get you two shacked up ASAP," Raven said, tapping the pen on the table.

Neither of the other two women had really considered the actual moving in part yet. Lexa had barely come to terms with the fact that she might actually get to stay, while Clarke had really thought only as far ahead as getting _out_ of her current apartment.

"Well, I don't have that much stuff," Lexa admitted, "I could probably move most of my clothes to my small dresser by Friday. That would leave you the big wardrobe and most of the closet," she offered to Clarke.

Having seen Lexa's room before, Clarke knew that was more than enough space for her handful of t-shirts and six pairs of jeans.

"Sounds good to me," she nodded, shrugging her shoulders, "That's more room than I have now."

"Great, then we'll do it this weekend," Raven decided, resuming her scribbling.

This was certainly moving fast. It was surreal to actually be planning this.

Before Lexa could stop herself, she wondered about the sleeping arrangements. She had never had to share a room before and cursed her blush at the thought of sharing her bed with Clarke. Sure they were getting married, but would that mean they'd have to sleep in the same bed? She took a deep swig from her beer bottle. They'll cross that bridge when they get there.

"And what was the other term you mentioned last night?" Raven interrupted her train of thought, scratching her chin distractedly with the pen, "Something about your mother?"

Clarke's eyes lit up mischievously, "Oh yeah, I said I'd do it if it would get a rise out of my mom," she laughed, taking a bite of a chicken wing, "No need to put that in the contract, though, I think we already succeeded."

Lexa looked up suddenly from where she was Googling 'booshie' on her phone, eyes wide, "What do you mean?"

Clarke shrugged, "Oh, I guess she saw my post on Instagram from last night - thanks for that, by the way, Ray -" Raven gave her a salute and a wink, "and she called me like 100 times this morning."

Lexa had never met Clarke's mom before, so she didn't know exactly what to do with this information. Should she be afraid?

"What did she say?" She asked carefully, her eyes traveling nervously between Clarke and Raven, who seemed slightly alarmed by what Clarke had just said.

"Oh, I didn't answer," Clarke said nonchalantly, tossing the chicken bone onto the heap of scraps in front of her and brushing her hands together, "I think I'll let her stew a bit longer."

The look of horror on Raven's face only made her more uneasy.

"Griffs, you just left Abby hanging like that?" Raven gaped at her, almost in awe, "You're playing with fire, boo."

Clarke didn't seem to think so, though, she only shrugged, "Hey the deal was: booshie new digs and piss off my mom," she listed on her fingers, "This is a big favor, I want her good and pissed off."

That _definitely_ did not work to ease Lexa's building anxiety. That's exactly what she needed from this entire situation: her mother-in-law to hate her before they'd even met. She took another long sip from her beer.

Clarke seemed entirely unfazed.

Raven shrugged, "Whatever you say, Princess." She gave Lexa a sympathetic look and a pat on the shoulder before hunching over the contract to scribble some more.

Lexa swallowed hard. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Once all of the terms and conditions were established, and each woman signed their name (despite Raven's adamant push for a blood oath) with one last once-over, Raven put the paper down and grinned.

"I am so proud of you guys," she beamed, "and as the maid of honor, I have a present for the happy couple."

She stood up abruptly and pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. Clarke and Lexa exchanged a questioning glance.

She unfolded it and laid it out on the table, a devilish grin on her face. Nothing good ever came from that face.

"So in anticipation of the impending nuptials, I took it upon myself to go to the library and print out a bunch of sample questions from the USCIS website," she beamed, "Let's get studying, ladies."

Clarke snatched the paper from Raven's hand to scan through the questions as Lexa leaned in to read over her shoulder.

"Gee, thanks for being so cool and printing this out for us, Raven. You're the best maid of honor ever," Raven grumbled, sitting back in her chair and tossing a handful of chips in her mouth.

"What is your spouse's social security number...What's their salary and _how is it deposited into their bank account?_ Do people actually know these things?" Clarke gaped. Lexa looked just as confused.

This was definitely going to be harder than they thought.

"Well obviously we'll have to work our way up to those ones," Raven said, taking the paper back from her and flattening it out on the table, "We'll start slow, make a game out of it."

Clarke looked over at Lexa who simply shrugged her shoulders. Games are fun. Taking the lack of protest as a green light, Raven beamed and scanned the sheet for an easy question to start with.

"Okay, let's see…," she mused, "Ah, where and when did you ladies first meet?" she asked, folding her hands seriously, giving her best impression of a government official.

"Two and a half years ago," Lexa responded with seemingly no hesitation, "In Central Park by the Balto statue."

Raven's face broke into a huge smile. Clarke looked over at her, impressed.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I locked myself out of my apartment and had to borrow Raven's key."

"I'm just always cleaning up the messes you people make," Raven mused. Clarke rolled her eyes.

"Oh, okay, here's a good one: Clarke, when is Lexa's birthday?" Raven asked. She knew Clarke was terrible with dates.

"Shit uh..I know this, it was right before Cancun," Clarke muttered. She looked at the ceiling for the answer.

"April...17th?" She guessed.

"Damn Griff, that's actually pretty close," Raven said, impressed, "However, the correct answer is April 29th."

"Shit. At least I knew it was a prime number," Clarke shrugged, cracking open a new beer.

"I love it when a girl talks math," Lexa waggled her brows teasingly.

Clarke winked at her and clinked their beer bottles together.

Raven grimaced at the display, "Alright, alright, save it for the bedroom nerds."

Clarke gave her the finger as she took a long swig. Lexa just winked at her.

She rolled her eyes, clearing her throat and rounding on Lexa, "Now, Miss Woods, could you tell me when Clarke's birthday is?"

Again, with barely a moment's hesitation, Lexa replied, "August 7th."

"That is correct," Raven announced, tossing Lexa a potato chip as a reward.

"That's not fair, she's good with numbers and dates and stuff like that," Clarke whined.

Lexa smiled smugly as she chomped on her chip.

"Clarke, you _want_ Lexa to know this stuff. You're on the same team remember?" Raven pointed out.

Oh yeah.

After a few more rounds of questions, which neither woman could answer with much conviction, they decided they needed a game plan.

"Okay, so here's what we're going to do," Raven leveled with them, "Every day, starting tomorrow, you bitches are going to spend at least an hour just hanging out, getting to know each other. Then at the end of the week, we'll come back and run through more of these questions, sound fair?"

Both Clarke and Lexa nodded.

"I have a lunch break around 12:30, maybe we could meet up by The Lake and eat lunch together?" Lexa suggested.

It felt just enough like asking her out to make her ears burn. She rolled her eyes inwardly at her own lack of cool.

"Yeah, that sounds good to me," Clarke smiled, her sparkling blue eyes turning Lexa's ears an even darker shade of red. Pathetic.

"Good, now I'm going to go hop in the shower because I smell like hot wings and two straight days of drinking," Raven said getting up and clearing some plates from the table before heading for the bathroom, "Clarke, I suggest you do the same, boo. I love you, but you smell."

Clarke's disgruntled response was only cut off when she sniffed her shirt and scrunched her face in disgust. Yeah maybe she needed a shower.

After a few minutes of Lexa brushing off her persistent attempts at helping clean up the apartment, Clarke found herself fastening her coat to head out when-

"Hey Clarke, wait up," she looked up to see Lexa suddenly emerging from the kitchen, hands damp with soap suds, "Before you leave, I just wanted to get your number so we could make plans for meeting up this week," she said, fishing her phone from her pocket and handing it to Clarke, "Also, you know, I'm pretty sure people usually have their fiancée's number saved in their phones, so..."

"Yeah, probably," Clarke snorted, taking the soapy device from her, "How do you not have my number already?"

"Oh, I had to get a new simcard when I came back from Europe, so I lost all my contacts," she explained, wiping her hands on her jeans.

Clarke merely hummed in response as she typed her contact.

When she finished, Lexa pocketed the device and they stood there for a moment in awkward silence.

"Well uh- thanks," Lexa finally said, rubbing the back of her neck anxiously, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

She extended her damp, soapy hand for Clarke to shake. So smooth.

Clarke looked down at her pruney hand and back with an incredulous stare, "Listen, Rico Suave, if we're going to try to convince everyone we like each other enough to get married, you better at least be able to hug me," she teased, swatting Lexa's hand away and beckoning her into a hug.

Lexa rolled her eyes and pulled Clarke to her chest, wrapping her arms around her neck. Clarke was pleasantly surprised and encircled her waist, humming contentedly into her neck.

"Mmm, you smell good," she murmured before she could stop herself.

"You falling in love with me already, Griffin?" Lexa smirked down at her.

"Not a chance, Woods," Clarke quipped, swatting her shoulder as she reluctantly pulled away from the embrace, "You just smell nice."

"Yeah, too bad I can't say the same for you," Lexa teased, narrowly jumping out of reach of Clarke's retort.

She let out a full, genuine laugh that made it hard for Clarke to keep the pout on her face, "Awe, I'm just joking, Clarke, I love the smell of pizza cheese and alcohol."  

Clarke rolled her eyes as she turned to open the front door, smiling despite herself, "Goodbye Lexa."

"Bye Clarke, see you tomorrow at lunch," Lexa called after her.

"It's a date," Clarke winked over her shoulder before shutting the front door.

Lexa stood there in the hall alone for a minute, letting the last 24 hours wash over her.

"It's a date," she echoed, smiling before going back to finish the dishes.

  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you guys so much for your kudos, subs, and kind words. You have made a lonely math major very happy. I do have a bit written for the next two chapters, but they are not finished. I will certainly work to finish and post them as quickly as I can!
> 
> As always, you can find me at Lesbotps on tumblr.
> 
> German:  
> Ich kann es einfach nur nicht glauben - I just can't believe it.
> 
> Also 'Mais' (pronounced like 'mize') is the German word for 'corn' and sounds a lot like "mice". That actually happened to a friend of mine when she first came to the US and the clerk kept thinking she was asking for "mice". ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> -R


	3. Trial By Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke finally hears from Abby, who seems less than enthused about the upcoming nuptials. Lexa and Clarke get to know each other a little more and find they have more in common than they previously thought. Raven is still, somehow, a voice of reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I know it took me a little while, but with school and work full-time, getting engaged (!!!), and a death in the family, these past few weeks have been insane. Also, would anyone be interested in being a beta? I am my own worst critic and could edit myself into oblivion. Let me know if you're up for it!

"Let's see," Clarke hummed, laying back in the grass to gaze at the sky, "What's your favorite color?" 

"Ahh, so we're going for the hard hitting questions first," Lexa mused, glancing down at Clarke over her shoulder. 

The two women were sprawled out on a grassy embankment on the outskirts of The Lake, Lexa leaning back on her elbows, while Clarke shamelessly sunbathed in her pantsuit. Given the unusually warm weather for early March, their lunches had been tossed aside almost immediately in favor of taking in the first sun rays of Spring. 

"Mine's green or yellow, depending on the day," Clarke said, folding her arms behind her head and closing her eyes against the sun. 

Lexa grimaced. There was something about yellow that made her cringe. It was just so loud and obnoxious. 

"I like blue," she said, distractedly pulling bits of grass and weeds up with her fingers. 

Clarke peeked up at her through one eye, "What shade?"   

Lexa pondered the deep blue of the sky, the greenish blue of the lake, the piercing shade of Clarke's eyes. Her ears burned, "Pretty much any shade," she shrugged. 

"Okay your turn," Clarke said, nudging her with her foot, "ask me anything." 

Lexa contemplated for a moment what she would want to know about someone she was going to marry; what she wanted to know about Clarke. 

"What kind of music do you like?" 

"Oh, good one," Clarke hummed in approval, patting her arm, "My favorite band of all time is Fleetwood Mac." She said, with barely a moment's hesitation, "And before you say anything bad about them, I dare you to sit in a dark room and listen to The Dance all the way through without it changing your life."  

Lexa snorted, nodding, "Duly noted." 

"What about you?" Clarke sat up on her elbows and nudged Lexa with her shoulder, "Got any bands you can't live without?" 

Lexa shook her head, shrugging her shoulders, "Not really. I listen to pretty much everything." 

"Don't give me that crap," Clarke rolled her eyes,  "I can't be the only one answering questions here." 

Lexa sighed, fidgeting with some blades of grass stuck to her palm. 

"I guess it depends on what I'm doing," she said, detaching the blades from her hand and braiding them together, "If I'm at work, I like Mozart and Yo Yo Ma. If it's raining, I like Yuna and River Whyless. If I'm running, it's pretty much anything upbeat." Her eyes met Clarke's regarding gaze for a moment before she had to look away, "I'm not too picky." 

"See, was that so hard?" Clarke teased. 

Lexa rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself, "Okay, your turn." 

She was surprised when Clarke reached over to still her fingers with a soft touch instead, gently pulling the grass braid from her grasp.  

"Where did you learn how to braid from?" She asked, bringing it closer to her face for inspection, "This is fucking beautiful." 

"My mom taught me," Lexa said, admiring Clarke admiring her handiwork, "She used to braid my hair all the time when I was a kid, and now I just do it out of nervous habit," she chuckled, "I'm convinced I can braid anything at this point." 

The look on Clarke's face was hard to read.  

"Do I make you nervous?" She asked carefully. 

"Oh, no, I didn't mean-I mean you _do_ , but not because of you, because of me," Lexa rambled, "You know?" 

The look on Clarke's face said she didn't. She let out a long breath. 

"Just social things- small talk, bars, stuff like that- make me feel uneasy sometimes," she explained, pulling at some more grass before stopping herself and looking back up at Clarke, "But I'm really okay. You're easy to talk to for me." 

When Clarke smiled at her, she was happy not to find any trace of pity in it, just Clarke. 

"Okay, good," she gave Lexa's hands a squeeze, "Because if we're going to get married, you better be able to talk to me. I'm a chatty kathy." 

"Oh, great," Lexa teased, earning a swat. 

They sat for a few moments in silence. Lexa could sense Clarke's eyes on her as she went back to picking at a patch of grass and was just waiting for the follow up questions to come. She could practically feel them bubbling just beneath the surface of Clarke's skin. 

"Want to braid my hair?" Clarke finally asked, glancing over her shoulder at Lexa. 

It certainly wasn't the in the line of questioning she'd expected, but Lexa was happy to oblige. She was grateful for Clarke's divergence away from the subject, rather than prodding her with more questions.

"Uh, sure," She said, sitting up and brushing off her hands.  

Clarke grinned, pocketing the grass braid, and scooted herself closer to Lexa. Just as she turned to face her, Clarke nudged her legs apart and began settling into the space between Lexa's knees.

"Uh, Clarke, what are you doing?" she blanched.

"Getting comfy so that we can listen to Fleetwood while you braid my hair," she said, casually leaning back against Lexa as she took out her phone, "You need to learn to love them, Lex. Me and Mac are a package deal." 

After finding her lungs, Lexa took a deep breath and nodded. Clarke's hair smelled like summer time and vanilla. 

"How do you want me to braid it?" She muttered, fingers nimbly collecting strands of blonde hair, shaking only slightly. 

Clarke shrugged, looking at Lexa over her shoulder. The sudden realization of their closeness made Lexa swallow. She internally prayed her hair was covering her burning ears. Traitors. 

"However you want," she smiled, "But preferably on the professional side. I still have another four hours of work." 

Lexa just nodded, trying to ignore the blue of Clarke's eyes and the stirring in her chest.

When Clarke turned back around, Lexa tried to focus only on the sound of Stevie Nick's voice singing Silver Springs and the yellow tresses in her fingers, how soft they felt, how nicely they shown in the sun. 

She thought maybe yellow wasn't so bad.

 

 

 

 

 

Later that night, Raven sauntered into the kitchen to find Lexa hunched over her laptop in deep concentration.

"Isn't it passed your bedtime, Woods?," she teased, grabbing a slice of cold pizza from the fridge and hopping up on the counter, "It's like nine o'clock already." 

Lexa grunted, not even looking up from the screen, "I just need to finish something first," she said distractedly, looking away from her computer only to jot something down on a small square sheet of paper.

Raven hummed around a mouthful of pizza, "Whatcha doin? Work stuff?" 

When all she got in response was indiscernible mumbling, she decided not to press for clarification. She had learned not to ask Lexa about her work a long time ago. It's not that she didn't understand Neuroscience, it was just that Lexa seemed physically incapable of being concise. 

"So, how was your date with Princess today?" she asked conversationally, swinging her legs as they dangled from the counter's edge. 

"S' good," Lexa mumbled, still not looking up from her computer. Raven looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to elaborate, but she just kept typing away. 

"Good talk, champ," she muttered, grabbing a beer and a bottle of ranch before plopping down across from Lexa at the table, "So what did you guys talk about? What did you guys do? You've got to give me something here."

Lexa hummed again, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "Just yellow...briads...Stevie Nicks,"

Raven knitted her brow in confusion, "What? Was that even English?" 

Again, Lexa just grunted non-committaly and continued doing whatever it was she was doing.  

Raven huffed, "Hello, Earth to Lexa," she waved her hand between Lexa's face and the screen, causing her to finally look up at her, "Okay, I give up. What the hell are you doing?" 

Lexa looked at her for a moment as though she'd just noticed her standing there before returning her gaze back to the computer screen. "I'm burning a CD for Clarke to give to her tomorrow at lunch," she replied evenly.

Raven's eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

"A CD?" she snorted, "You do realize she's already agreed to _marry_ you, right? You don't need to romance her or anything." 

Lexa rolled her eyes as she ejected the disk, placing it carefully back into its case with the square track sheet. "I'm not trying to  _romance_ her, Raven. I just thought she'd like some of these songs, so I put them on a CD for her," she shrugged, ignoring the traitorous blush that rose in her cheeks.  

Raven's face broke into a smug smile. 

"Aweee, Commander, do you have a little crush on Clarke?" she leaned over to prod Lexa in the chest, "I didn't even think you had a heart in there." 

Lexa swatted her hand away and closed her laptop, turning to go to bed. She was too tired for this. 

"Goodnight Raven," she said dryly, making her way out of the kitchen. 

"Goodnight Romeo, I hope Juliet loves her mixtape!" Raven called after her, "Maybe she'll even ask you to be her date to the big dance next Friday." 

Lexa's response came only in the sound of her bedroom door closing. 

"Damn, this is going to be easier than I thought," Raven mused into her beer with a wry smile. 

 

 

 

 

 

For the second time in three days, Clarke woke up to her phone going off repeatedly beneath her face. Groaning, she blindly thumbed the screen, hoping she was swiping to answer when- 

"Oh look, she _does_ know how to answer her phone!" A familiar voice rang out into the darkness of her bedroom.   
   
"Hi Mom," Clarke croaked, squinting at her alarm clock to see that it was only 6:22 am. Of course it was.   
   
"You mind telling me what the hell is going on?"   
   
Clarke groaned, sitting up in bed and cradling her head in her hands, "Not re-"   
   
"I didn't even know you were dating anyone and suddenly you're getting _married_?" Abby shrieked.   
   
Clarke held the phone away from her ear and closed her eyes. It was way too early for this.   
   
"Did he get you pregnant?" Her mother asked seriously. 

"No, Mom," Clarke rolled her eyes. Of _course_ that was the first place she went.    
   
"Are you sure? There are a lot of options out there, honey, if you-"   
   
" _Her_ name is Lexa," Clarke interjected, "and she definitely did not get me pregnant."   
   
There was silence on the other end for a moment, "Well then I just don't understand."   
   
Sighing, Clarke got out of bed in search of coffee. There was no way she was going back to sleep now. She made her way quietly down the hall and into the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot, being careful not wake Kari, her demonic roommate (because that was the last thing she needed right now). 

"There's nothing to understand Mom. We've been together for a while and things have been going really well, so we're getting married," she said, immediately wincing at how lame it sounded. She cursed her drunk self for blabbing and getting her into this mess, especially before she and Lexa had a chance to work out the finer details of their charade.  

"A _while?_ How long is a while? I've never even heard of this person before," her mother ranted.   
   
"Yes you have, Mom. Lexa. Lexa Woods, Ravens roommate?" she waited for a sign of recognition, "We all went to Cancun together last year?"   
   
Abby paused, "The one with the tattoos?"   
   
Of course that's what she remembers. Clark pinched the bridge of her nose. It was _way_ too early for this. 

"Yes mom, that one. She also happens to have a PhD and speak three languages."   
   
"Well how would _I_ know any of that, Clarke? I've never met the girl before!"  

Clarke took a deep breath, fiddling with the lip of her mug. This was not how she wanted to start her day. 

"You live a thousand miles away, Mom-"   
   
"That's not an excuse! It's called a phone, Clarke!" Her mother cut in indignantly, "It's not like we haven't spoken to each other in-in...when did you two start dating again?" 

Clarke's eyes widened. Shit. How have they not established that yet? Panicking, she looked around her kitchen as if the cabinets had an answer etched in their surface.  As a first test, she was failing miserably. 

"We've-uh..we've been together for a little over a year," She made up quickly. 

Wait, had she and Finn been together then? "And seriously dating for about nine months," she added, just to make sure it all added up. 

"Jesus Christ, Clarke, a _year_?" Abby's voice was starting to sound high pitched, "How have you not even mentioned this _once_ to me?" 

"I-" Clarke froze. She really didn't have a good answer to that, "I guess it just never came up in conversation." 

It was lame, but it was the best she had at the moment. She and Lexa _really_ needed to get their shit together before more people started asking questions, and considering they'd barely hung out outside of the context of their mutual friendship with Raven before, people were going to have a _lot_ of questions. Cold dread rose in her chest. This was going to be harder than she thought. 

"Well, it's come up now, Clarke, so this is as good a time as any." Clarke swallowed hard around the panic that rose in her throat. She was _not_ prepared to do this right now. "So tell me about her. What does she do? What is she like? Is she even good to you?"  

Yeah, she was _definitely_ not prepared to do this right now. Rather than come up with more lies, Clarke chose to hide her panic with defensiveness, "Mom, do you seriously think I would marry someone who wasn't good to me?" 

This, however, only seemed to incite Abby more, "Well I don't know Clarke! I never thought I'd have to find out about your engagement on social media, but here we are!" 

There was a moment of tense silence. 

"I feel like I don't even know you anymore." 

Clarke rolled her eyes at that. She and Abby were practically strangers at this point. Even if she _had_ been dating Lexa for the last year, her mother would likely be none the wiser.  

"Maybe if you actually checked in every once in a while you would know more about my life," she muttered under her breath.   
   
"What was that?"   
   
"Nothing," she sighed, "Listen- can we do this some other time? I have to go get ready for work," and get the _hell_ away from this conversation.   
   
"Fine," Abby huffed, "but only because I have a consultation to get to in 20 minutes."   
   
"Thank you," Clarke let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in.   
   
"But don't think for a _second_ that this conversation is over," her mother warned before abruptly hanging up the phone.   
   
"Love you too, Mom," Clarke mumbled as she threw her phone down on the counter. Well that was a disaster. 

She knew her mom would be upset, but with the way they had been avoiding each other for the better part of the last eight years, she kind of figured she would just make some passive aggressive comment about what a disappointment she was and then leave her alone. She certainly didn't expect her to care enough to actually  _call_ her, like, _multiple times_ , and give her the third degree. She and Lexa _definitely_ had to get their story straight if this was really going to work, and with what she's heard about the USCIS screening process, her mother was the least of their problems. 

Sighing, she leaned back against the counter, and ran her hands through her hair. Lexa was right, this was going to be way harder than she thought. 

But just how _much_ harder? 

Knowing she shouldn't, but not being able to help herself, Clarke crept into the living room, still being careful not to wake Satan, and pulled up the USCIS website on her laptop. It only took about three minutes of browsing the forms (and seeing the word 'federal prison' one too many times) for it to hit her how ill prepared she and Lexa really were. 

 _Shit._   

 **Clarke:** Raven  

 **Clarke:** Raven help me 

 **Clarke:** I just got off the phone with my mom.   

 **Clarke:** She asked me so many questions.  

 **Clarke:** Raven  

 **Clarke:** RAVEN  

 **Raven:** It's 6:37 am, Clarke.   

 **Clarke:** We don’t even have an anniversary!   

  

 **Incoming call: Clarke Griffin**   

"Are you kidding me right now, Griffin?" Raven grunted into the phone.  

"We don't even have an anniversary, Raven!"  

Raven groaned and rolled out of bed.  

"How are we supposed to convince people we're a real couple if we don't even know how long we've been together?!"  

She made her way across the hallway and barged into the bathroom without knocking.  

"Raven, what the fuck!" Lexa yelped, attempting to cover her half naked form, toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.  

With no more than a glare, Raven thrust her phone into Lexa's hand before wordlessly retreating back to her room.  

Lexa gaped at the device in her hand and slowly raised it to her ear.  

"-seriously freaking out here, Ray. We need to get our story straight before I blow this whole operation," she heard a familiar voice ramble. She spat out her toothpaste, wiping her mouth.  

"Clarke?"  

There was silence on the other end for a moment. 

"Lexa?"  

"Hey," she said, "Uh, what's up?" 

Clarke was going to kill Raven. She was just glad Lexa couldn't see her fluster through the phone, "Oh you know...nothing much, just uh...nothing." 

"Sure doesn't sound like nothing," Lexa said, checking her watch, "Unless frantic phone calls at 6:40 in the morning are a usual thing for you." 

Clarke let out a noise that was somewhere between a nervous laugh and a whimper. It made Lexa stop in her tracks. 

"Everything okay?" 

"Yeah, everything's fine. You know, just having a minor breakdown. No big deal," Clarke rambled, "Some people like to go for a morning jog, I prefer a meltdown to start my day." 

Lexa could tell she was trying to sound light-hearted, but she wasn't buying it. 

"You want to talk about it?" she prompted, grabbing her work shirt and throwing it over her shoulders. 

Deep down, Lexa began to panic herself. This is it. Clarke was calling to tell her she changed her mind. She knew this was going t- 

"We need to get our shit together, like right now before I fuck this whole thing up," Clarke blurted, "You should've seen me out there, Lex, it was a mess. I can't even fill out a single question on these forms!" 

Lexa froze in the middle of buttoning up her shirt. Wait, what? 

"Clarke, what are you t-" 

"And there's _multiple_ interviews, too. Did you know that?" Clarke continued, swiftly cutting her off, "Yeah, _and_ they're going to call all of our friends, even my Mom!"  

 _Oh_. Suddenly it all made sense. 

"We don't even have an anniversary, Lexa!" Clarke shouted, "That's, like, day one shit! How are we supposed to fool people into thinking we're a couple if we can't even answer the most basic coupley questions?" 

Lexa waited a breath before speaking to make sure Clarke was finished. 

"So I'm guessing you found the immigration website?" 

"This shit is crazy, Lexa! Have you read half of these forms?" 

Lexa chuckled, resuming buttoning up her shirt, "I told you this wasn't going to be easy, Clarke." 

"You're not fucking kidding," Clarke muttered distractedly, still clicking through some forms. 

"You know, you're still free to back out if you think it's going to be too much for you...I won't be mad," Lexa said carefully, sitting down on the edge of her bed, toying with the pair of socks she still had yet to put on. 

"No, Lex that's not it at all," Clarke reassured quickly. Lexa let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, "I just-I don't know. My mom was asking me all of these questions this morning that I had _no_ answers to and I just panicked. And then I went online-"   

"Wait, you talked to your mom this morning?" Lexa cut off, eyes widening.

After Clarke had left Sunday night, Raven went on a tirade about how stupid she was to fuck with Abby Griffin, the 'hardass scary doctor lady who could slay a grown man with a single glare'. Lexa knew Raven was just being, well, Raven, but she certainly succeeded in scaring her.  

"Oh, yeah I accidentally answered my phone in my sleep when she called. I fell right into her trap," Clarke admitted, "It was a disaster." 

"I'm guessing she wasn't happy?" Lexa pressed, her morning routine completely forgotten for the moment. 

"She was definitely less than enthused. Enraged might be a good word," Clarke sighed, "I knew she would be pissed, but I didn't expect her to care so much, you know?" 

There was something in the tone of Clarke's voice that made Lexa's chest ache, "Of course she cares, Clarke, she's your mother." 

"Yeah, but she's not like that," Clarke insisted, "She's more of the 'love from a distance' type. Like the estranged dad who sends a shit ton of money on your birthday to make up for never calling."  

Lexa hummed when she realized Clarke couldn't see her nodding. She had never heard Clarke talk about her family much. It made her sad to think she had such a strained relationship with her mother, and even more sad to know that she was making it worse. 

"I'm sorry, Clarke," she said sincerely. 

"Oh don't worry, I got over my Mommy issues years ago. Nothing to be sorry about," Clarke brushed her off, "Besides, Abby's the least of our problems. If we can't even answer the most basic questions people are going to ask, we're _fucked_ for the immigration interview. That can't happen, Lexa. I will _not_ do well in prison." 

Lexa had to let out a chuckle as she finally tugged her socks on, "Clarke, nobody is going to jail, okay? I promise. Everything is going to be alright. In fact, if it would make you feel better, you and I can look at the forms together at lunch today," she offered, "That way we can agree on a story and get all of the basic stuff out of the way as soon as possible." 

Clarke let out a sigh that was somewhere between relieved and exasperated. 

"Yeah, okay," she relented, "That would actually make me feel a lot better." 

"Good, then it's settled." 

There was a pause for a moment before Clarke spoke again, "Sorry I freaked out, I just-I really don't want to fuck this up." 

Lexa felt a pang of guilt at the gravity of the situation she'd put them in.

"Clarke, you don't have to apologize to me. You can call me for anything at any time, okay?" she hoped Clarke could hear her honesty and gratitude through the phone, "It's the least I can do." 

"Thanks Lex, I really appreciate that," she said. Lexa could hear the smile in her voice and felt lighter at the sound of it. 

"Or, you know, you could just call Raven so she can hand you off to me," she joked, fastening the laces on her Oxfords before getting up to grab her blazer.  

"Or that," Clarke snorted, "Though next time, I think I'll skip the grumpy middle man and go straight to the source." 

"Sounds good to me," Lexa couldn't help the smile spread across her face, "I'll see you later for lunch?" 

"Definitely." 

 

On her way out, Lexa found Raven huddled up under a blanket on the couch, the news playing quietly in the background. 

"You know, you should be nominated for a 'friend-of-the-year' award or something," she deadpanned, tossing Raven's phone at her from the entryway. 

The lump grunted and stirred, turning to squint at her, "Oh good, so you were able to talk Princess down from the ledge?"  

"Yeah, no thanks to you."  

"Hey, your wife, your problem," Raven muttered, turning back over to face the TV.

Lexa rolled her eyes as she turned towards the front door, ears burning slightly at the implication, "I don't even know why she hangs out with you." 

"Give Clarkey a kiss for me at lunch!" Raven called after her.

Lexa nearly choked on the sip of coffee she was taking, sputtering as she stepped out of the apartment. She could hear Raven's maniacal laughter through the door. 

 

 

 

 

"Oh my God Lex, you are so cute!" Clarke gushed, turning the CD over to read the titles written on the back, "This is so sophomore year of high school romantic." 

She and Lexa were stopped in the middle of a bustling sidewalk just outside the entrance to the park, the whole city buzzing from the second day of this mild March weather.  

Lexa rubbed the back of her neck, heat rising in her cheeks. "I'm glad you like it," she said, not able to look Clarke in the eyes, "I think you'll especially like track three. I know you had a rough morning and it always helps me feel better when I'm having a bad day."

Clarke looked from the unfamiliar name of track three back up to Lexa and something warm and heavy squirmed in her chest at the realization that this wasn't _just_ a CD; it was a little piece of herself that she was sharing with Clarke without needing to use words. Feeling a sudden surge of affection for her, Clarke couldn't help but lean up to kiss those beautiful, burning cheeks in appreciation. 

"Thank you Lexa, that was really sweet of you," she said earnestly as she pulled away. 

Lexa merely nodded, holding herself back from touching the tingling spot on her cheek where Clarke's lips had just been. She couldn't remember the last time someone kissed her, even on the cheek.

Clearing her throat, she turned her attention to the path in front of them to hide her deepening blush, "So I guess we should probably start talking about our backstory."  

"Yes, definitely," Clarke agreed, carefully stashing the CD in her bag and heading down the path towards The Lake, following Lexa's lead, "I don't think I could handle having another conversation like the one I had with my mom this morning. Like, ever again. With anyone."  

"That bad, huh?" Lexa chuckled, feeling more and more relaxed with every step deeper into the serenity of the park. The lush green trees and open sky certainly were a welcome contrast to the confines of an office building. 

"Oh my god, you have no idea," she groaned, "I couldn't answer a single one of her questions, so I panicked. I just kept blurting out the first thing that popped into my head." 

Lexa glanced over at her, taking note of the lovely contrast between her blonde hair and the frustrated flush of her cheeks, "I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you think."  

"I basically told my mother that we're getting married just because 'things have been going well' for the last nine months," she deadpanned, "It was so lame. _I_ didn't even believe me."  

Lexa grimaced, "That does sound pretty lame."  

Being that she didn't have many close friends or family, Lexa hadn't even considered what she would tell people if they started asking questions about their sudden engagement. In fact, she was such a private person that she doubted the people in her life would even question the sudden appearance of a wife nobody knew about. Hell, she could probably even get away with a couple spontaneous kids, too. Clarke, however, like most people, actually _had_ friends and used things like social media on a regular basis, so fabricating an entire relationship out of nowhere was probably cause for alarm to those she kept in the loop. Lexa silently thanked herself for being such a loner.    

When they arrived by the Lake, they found it swarming with people, everyone just trying to make the most of the unseasonably warm weather. Grabbing the first empty bench they could find, they sat for a few minutes in comfortable silence, nibbling on their lunches and taking in the scenery.  

"So nine months, huh?" Lexa spoke up, taking a sip from her thermos. 

"Mhm," Clarke hummed around a mouth full of sandwich, "At least that's what I told my mom, so it looks like we're stuck with it." 

Lexa crossed her arms and sat back, contemplating the clear blue sky.  

"That would mean we would have started dating right around Cancun," she mused, returning her gaze to Clarke. The trees above them rustled in the breeze, blowing a few strands of loose hair from her face. She really was beautiful.   

"Huh, I guess you're right," Clarke pondered, lips curling into a wry smile, "Not a bad place to fall in love, is it?" 

"Not at all," Lexa smiled back, "See? I told you it wasn't as bad as you thought. You did good, kid." 

Clarke sat back with a self-satisfied grin, "I did, didn't I?" 

 

After spending the better part of the next hour reading through some application forms and concocting the perfect 'romantic first date' in Cancun, Clarke was finally starting to feel more at ease.  

"Thanks for suggesting this Lex," she said, getting up from the bench and stretching her hands over her head, "I think I really just needed to get out and clear my head a little." 

Glancing at her watch, Lexa was surprised to find it was almost time to head back to work already. 

"No problem," she replied, standing up as well and picking up the scraps from her lunch, "Believe it or not, I don't get out much, so I've actually had a lot of fun with you these last two days."  

"Me too," Clarke smiled, "And hey, next time my mother calls to harass me, I'll actually have something to say. So there's that." 

Lexa chuckled, "Well step one to answering questions _is_ having answers, I suppose." 

Clarke shoved her playfully as they turned to make their way back into the the city, "You're such a smartass. Why did I agree to marry you again?"  

Suddenly, a sly, lopsided grin appeared on Lexa's face that Clarke thought looked too good on her, "If memory serves me correctly, Clarke, _you_ were the one who proposed to _me_ _._ " 

Despite her heart fluttering at the careful, precise way that Lexa said her name, Clarke rolled her eyes at the brunette's cocky tone, "Yeah well I always do stupid shit when I'm drunk. So we can just add that one to the list." 

The shit eating grin on Lexa's face didn't waiver. 

"I don't know, I'm starting to think you just fell for my irresistible charm and good looks," she teased, face somehow growing even more smug, "Don't be ashamed, Clarke, you're not the first." 

Clarke laughed at her and linked their arms together as they fell into step. Lexa's confident demeanor only faltered for a moment. 

"You wish I was that easy," Clarke scoffed, enjoying their proximity, "How about for the time being we stick to _our_ story and you just use all that irresistible charm and good looks to fool everyone else into believing it."  

"Whatever you say, Griffin," Lexa smirked, "Speaking of, you should come over tonight so we can actually flesh out our backstory. I think it'll be good to get input from Raven. That way we're all on the same page." 

Clarke quirked an eyebrow at her, "You sure you want to give Raven that much power? Seems a bit dangerous." 

"Nah, she'll be fine," Lexa assured, waving her off, "It'll be fun."

 

 

 

"Are you kidding me? " Raven practically guffawed, "Sorry, but nobody is going to believe that this adorable fucking idiot," she gestured to Lexa with her thumb, "could ever be so smooth as to take a girl out on a boat with candles and a romantic dinner just to ask her out. _I_  don't even have that much game."

The three of them were sprawled out on the living room floor in a heated debate amid half a dozen containers of Chinese food. As it turns out, getting Raven's input was far less helpful than Lexa had hoped. Rather than actually contributing, she seemed to just refute everything the other two came up with.

"Hey, I have game," Lexa protested indignantly.

"I believe you, Lex," Clarke consoled, softening her pout with a gentle squeeze to her shoulder.

Raven pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a sigh before leveling with her friends, "Look, you guys want these people to believe you, right?"

Lexa and Clarke both nodded their heads, albeit exasperatedly.

"Then don't make it sound like a cheesy romance novel!" she pleaded, "Stop trying to force some crazy intricate story. Not only does it sound fake, but you two are shit at lying."

"Hey, fuck you, at least we're actually trying," Clarke said, tossing a fortune cookie at Raven over the coffee table, "All you've done is stuff your face and act like a jerk."

Lexa snorted and hummed her agreement.

"First of all, I detest that," Raven said, popping the offending cookie in her mouth and taking a pointed sip of her beer, "Second of all, the only reason I say these things is because I care about you guys."

Clarke and Lexa leveled her with matching looks of skepticism.

" _And_ ," she relented, "I refuse to stand by and watch you two throw _my_ ass out on the street just because you can't stitch a coherent story together to save your lives."

Lexa rolled her eyes while Clarke scoffed, crossing her arms and leaning back against the armchair.

"Okay then smarty pants, let's see  _you_ come up with a believable story as to why we're getting married out of nowhere," she challenged.

Raven let out an exasperated sigh and sat up, finishing off her beer.

"Well obviously you guys didn't tell anyone because _she_  was out of the country for most of the last fucking year" she motioned dramatically to Lexa, " and being long distance is hard enough without family and social media and everything else getting in the way. But being apart made you guys stronger. It made you realize that you don't _want_ to be apart anymore and that you're ready to finally do this thing right. Together," she finished, slamming her empty bottle on the table with finality before leaning back against the couch, "See? Not that fucking hard."

Lexa and Clarke were both staring at her, mouths agape.

"Wow, Ray, that was beautiful," Clarke conceded, taken aback

"And surprisingly logical," Lexa added, unable to hide her surprise. Believe it or not, Raven wasn't always known for her rationale

"I know," Raven shrugged smugly, "I should write romance novels or some shit."

"But what if that's not enough?" Clarke insisted, "What happens when people start prying deeper? You know me, Raven, I'm not the girl who just keeps a secret girlfriend for almost an entire year without telling anyone. People are going to be suspicious."

"Suspicious of  _what_ Clarke? It's not like anyone outside this room knows about Lexa's Green Card status," Raven reasoned, "Stop thinking so hard. Just act the part and people will believe it. It's really that simple." 

Clarke looked like she wanted to argue back, but couldn't find a rebuttle.  

"Look, If the gay kid and the chick with the high pitched voice from High School Musical could pull it off, so can you," Raven said, pulling out her phone and busying herself with a text. 

Clarke rolled her eyes, "Don't pretend like you don't know every fucking word to those songs."

"The lesbian and the sparkly guy from Twilight," Raven continued, not looking up from her message, "The guy from N*Sync and the chick with the snake."

"Okay now I know you're just being ridiculous-"

"Bill and Hillary Clinton," Lexa added, a wry smile blooming on her face.

"See? Commander gets it!" Raven high fived across the table.

"Don't encourage her," Clarke swatted at Lexa's arm, lips curling into a smile despite herself.

"Look, I'm not saying you guys have to fuck each other, just act like you  _want_ to. Know what I mean?" Raven shrugged, putting her phone down.

"Jesus Christ, Raven," Clarke groaned into her hands. Lexa looked plain mortified.

"What? I'm serious," she insisted, "Hold hands in the park, go on dates, change your Facebook status, talk about each other at work. Just blend in and commit to it. After the initial shock, you guys will fly under the radar like every other annoying fucking couple in the world. People won't even question it."

Lexa cleared her throat and took a long swig of her beer, berating her cheeks for blushing at the mere notion of her and Clarke holding hands in the park. She really needed to get out more.

"I guess that _does_ seem logical," Clarke muttered, looking over to Lexa "What do you think?"

Using the beer in her mouth as an excuse for not finding her voice, she merely shrugged.

"Well I'm glad we're all in agreement," Raven announced, clapping her hands together, "because your first test is on Friday. Octavia is coming down from Boston to meet Lexa and we're going clubbing."

Lexa nearly choked on what has left of her swig.

"Raven are you fucking kidding me?" Clarke gaped. 

"Afraid not, Princess," Raven said, leaning over the table and joining the other two girls' hands together, "See? Beautiful. I believe it already."

 

 By the time Clarke left that night, she and Lexa had made their engagement "FBO" and Lexa was slowly starting to realize why Clarke had felt so overwhelmed by the initial response she'd gotten. Almost immediately, she began receiving a number of congratulatory texts from family members (Anya's just to congratulate her on how 'hot' Clarke is) and worse, from some of her coworkers.

The prospect of people drawing attention to her at work made Lexa's skin crawl.

"You're going to have to talk about it eventually, Woods," Raven insisted as she changed the lockscreen on Lexa's phone to a picture of her and Clarke from Cancun, "Might as well start there."

 

 

 

The next day, Lexa managed to keep her head down and avoid unwanted attention throughout the course of her two morning classes; her luck had to run out eventually, though. Just before eleven, Lexa ducked into her office to get ready for a department meeting when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called, not even looking up to see who it might be. Rookie mistake.

"What's up Doc?" a familiar voice rang out as her TA, John Murphy, burst into the room. Lexa barely held back her groan.

Being one of the three people from work who had texted her the night before (and one of the more annoying presences in her life in general), Murphy was one of the last people she wanted to see at the moment. 

"What can I help you with today, John?" she asked evenly as he made his way over to perch on the edge of her desk. Though she had a feeling she already knew why he was there.

"Well a little birdie told me that our resident wallflower, Dr. Woods, has gotten herself engaged," he drawled, picking up the rubber band ball from her desk and tossing it , "And since you ignored my texts last night, I figured I'd drop by to ask about it myself."

Lexa kept her expression as neutral as possible, "Do you often get your news from birds?"

"Cut the crap, Woods," he smirked, "Did you order her from the internet or something?"

Lexa rolled her eyes and snatched the ball from him mid toss. "I really don't have time to do this with you right now. I have a meeting in-" she pressed the home button on her phone to check the time, "eight minutes."

Murphy's eyes lit up at the background image on her phone and she cursed herself.

"Ohh, Is this she?" He snatched her phone from off the desk.  

Lexa lunged forward to grab it back, but was just a moment too short.

"John, please give that back," she exasperated, leaning over the desk to reach for the device again. Murphy, however, leaped out of her arm's reach, taking a closer look at the picture.

"Damn, Doc, you weren't lying, huh? She's an actual real person and everything," he seemed genuinely surprised.

Lexa stepped around her desk and snatched the phone from his grip, unimpressed. What had she done to deserve such an ass for a TA?

"Yes, John, she is an actual real person," she slipped the phone into her pocket as she sat back down at her desk, "Her name is Clarke and she works for the ACS. She happens to be a lovely person." 

"Ohhh she sounds dreamy," Murphy leaned in with his hands tucked under his chin, grinning, "Tell me more."

"Don’t you have more important things to do right now than mock me?" Lexa deadpanned.

Murphy placed a hand on his chest, feigning offense, "Dr. Alexandrea Woods, I would never mock you."

She gave him an incredulous look.

"Okay, not counting the time you bought those terrible Andy Warhol glasses from Warby Parker. I was doing you a favor by mocking you."

She cracked a smile despite herself. Murphy was, unfortunately, one of her few friends and she had to admit, his brutal honesty came from somewhere genuine. Those glasses _were_ pretty terrible.

"Well you can do me a favor _now_ and get the hell out of my office so at least one of us can get some work done around here," she dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

"You got it, boss," he winked.

Just as he was about to open the door, he stopped, turning back to her.

"All jokes aside, I'm really happy for you Lexa. She must be something pretty special to be deserving of someone like you."

It was a rare moment of sincerity (tenderness? Honesty? Seriousness?) between the two of them. She supposed there were worse friends to have than John Murphy.

"Thank you, John. That's very sweet of you to say," she said, returning his friendly smile.

Even though she and Clarke were not really a couple, the sentiment made her chest swell.

"Now, if you guys are ever looking for a threesome-"

Well that lasted all of eleven seconds.

"Goodbye, John" she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Yeah, no. Still an ass.

Aside from the occasional congratulations here and there, Lexa made it through the rest of the day relatively unscathed.  

 

 

Clarke, however, couldn't count herself so lucky.

Although she had gotten a few whoops and congratulatory hugs from a couple people around the office, Clarke's heavy case load at the moment kept her from being able to linger too long with anyone. As lunchtime started rolling around, she found herself glancing at the clock more and more, anxious to be able to leave the confines of her office to meet Lexa for lunch.

Just as she was about half way through typing up a case report, her phone began to buzz. Assuming it was another case, she swiped to answer without even looking at the ID.

"Clarke Griffin," she said into the receiver as she continued typing up her report.

"Clarke?" a man's voice said on the other end. Her heart stopped. She knew that voice. "Clarke? It's me, Finn."

Her eyes widened. This was _not_ happening. Glancing around the office, she hoped to find some sign that this was just a bad dream, she even checked to see if she was naked, but alas, there were her blouse and dress pants right where she left them. Shit. All signs pointed to yes, this was actually fucking happening. 

"Finn, why are you calling me at work?" was all she could think to say.

"Well hello to you too, Princess," he teased. She knew he was trying to be friendly, but she just wasn't in the mood.

"Finn," she exasperated, pinching the bridge of her nose, "What do you want?"

Though she had a sinking feeling she knew exactly what this was about.

"Sorry to call you at work, but you changed your number since the last time we spoke," he said, not sounding incredibly sorry at all. There was a short pause, "So I heard you got engaged."

So fucking predictable.

"What, are you calling to congratulate me?"

"Wait, it's _true_?" he asked, incredulous.

She really should have seen this coming, but she honestly thought she'd left all this bullshit behind her when they broke up. She had to give it to him, Finn Collins was nothing, if not consistent.

"Yes, Finn, it's true," she exasperated, "I still don't see why you are calling me about this while I'm at work."

"Well who is he?" he demanded.

But Clarke was having none of it. "That's none of your damn business," she could feel her temper rising and took a breath to school her emotions, "You and I broke up over a year ago. I don't owe you anything."

"Were you sleeping with him when we were together?"

"Finn, listen to yourself," she implored, "We broke up _over a year ago._ This is why we didn't work out in the first place. You are so jealous and stubborn and your head is stuck so far up your own ass that you can't even control yourself."

"I am not-"

"No," she cut him off, her voice dangerous, "You call me at my place of work and have the _audacity_ to accuse me of cheating on you when we were together because, what, you're _jealous_ all of a sudden? It took me getting engaged for you to give a shit enough to reach out to me?" 

"I do give a shit, Clarke! I always gave a shit!" he asserted, "Your happiness was always the most important thing to me!"

"Well, did you even stop to think that maybe I'm happy _now_?"

She knew she'd struck a chord, because there was silence on the other end.

Finn let out a long, shaky breath, "I'm sorry, Clarke, I just-I'm still not over us. It's hard for me to accept that you've moved on. That someone else is making you happy, and he's not me."

Clarke's chest ached at the pained sound of his voice. She could feel her resolve breaking. She felt bad for being so short with him, but Finn was the kind of guy who took a mile if you gave him an inch. It was one of the things that initially drew her to him. The charming boy with the floppy brown mop and puppy dog eyes. For a while, she really thought he was the one. 

"I'm sorry Finn, I don't know what you want me to say." 

Whatever it was he was looking for her to say, that wasn't it.

"You can't marry this guy, Clarke. You're making a huge mistake."

Clarke let out a dark, humorless laugh, "Jesus Christ, did you call to apologize to me or berate me? Make up your fucking mind," she spat.

She was quickly being reminded of the possessive, controlling stranger that took over man she fell in love with.

"You know what, Finn, I have to go, okay? Please don't call me here again." she said, and hung up before he had a chance to respond.

She sat for a moment at her desk with her head in her hands, shaken. Hearing from Finn again was the last thing she expected to happen, and she couldn't help hoping it wouldn't happen again. To her relief, he did't call back.

 

 

From the moment they arrived at the park, Lexa could tell something was wrong with Clarke. She was quiet, distant, Lexa could tell there was something on her mind, but didn't want to pressure her or over step her bounds. She figured Clarke would tell her what was wrong if she wanted to. 

Clarke took a bite of her sandwich and lifted up the bread, looking disappointed.

"You okay over there?" Lexa prodded carefully.

"How many pickles are on this sandwich?" Clarke asked, shoving the sandwich right under Lexa's nose.  
  
She glanced down at the sandwich in question, "Uh...one?"  
  
"One!" Clarke exasperated, pulling the sandwich back with a huff, "Would you call this 'extra pickles'?"  
  
"I would not."  
  
"Exactly! They're perfectly capable of _charging_ me for extra pickles, but do I ever get them? Nooo."  
  
"Are you sure-"

"And you know, I go _out of my way_ to go to this place?"

Lexa just nodded, letting her get it all out.

"Yeah! I don't _have_ to go there. I could go to any of the other 650 fucking delis in Manhattan!", she waved her hands fanatically in front of her, "But I _choose_ to go there. And they treat me like this."

At this point, Clarke's face was flushed and she was breathing heavily. A lock of her blond hair moving with every exhale.

Lexa looked at her for a moment, "Is this really about the pickles?"

"How is it everyone's fucking business all of a sudden that I get married?" Clarke blurted.

"There it is."

"It's _my_ life, I can do whatever I want with it! I could adopt 36 cats and sell my body on the streets if I wanted!"

"Please don't."

"If Finn wanted to marry me so much, he should've fucking tried harder when we were together!"

Lexa's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She was not expecting Clarke's ex-boyfriend to have anything to do with this.

"He had his chance," she continued, "He had multiple chances! And now he cares?  _Now_ he's reaching out just because someone else staked a claim on his prize?" Lexa didn't know Finn very well, but she was getting the impression that she wouldn't like him very much if she did. 

"Get the fuck out of here with that misogynistic bullshit. I don't owe him anything," Clarke let out a sharp breath and took a violent bite out of her sandwich.

Lexa waited for a moment to make sure she was finished.

"Do you feel any better?"

Clarke looked down dejectedly at the offending piece of food, "Not really."  
  
Lexa wrapped up her stir fry and stood up, wiping the crumbs from her pants, "Come on, get up," she offered Clarke her hand.  
  
Clarke regarded the outstretched hand for a moment, "Where are we going?"  
  
"To let off some steam."

 

 

Clarke looked up at the building that stood only a few blocks from the park.

"The Baseball Center?" she raised an eyebrow at Lexa.

"No better stress relief than hitting stuff," she shrugged over her shoulder as she walked towards the front door, "You coming, blondie?"

Clarke rolled her eyes and followed her inside.

 

 

Clarke stood back and watched as Lexa had a few hushed words with the guy at the front desk. They seemed to know each other. He peered around Lexa to glimpse at Clarke as they spoke and she gave an awkward smile and a wave. He smiled and waved back, then turned back to Lexa nodding a few times, and handed her two helmets and a bat.

"Thanks, Tony," Lexa said before walking back to Clarke, equipment in hand.

"What was that about?" Clarke asked gesturing to Tony, who was now not-so-subtly watching them.

"I was just cashing in a favor," she alluded, handing Clarke a helmet, "You ready?"

Clarke quirked an eyebrow at her, "What kind of favor, exactly?"

She glanced back at Tony, who gave her a wink and a thumbs up as Lexa grabbed her hand to lead her down the hall towards the cages.

"I used to work here when I first moved to New York," she supplied, before stopping in front of one of the doors lining the hallways. She dropped Clarke's hand to put on her helmet, "I tutored his son for free so he could keep his baseball scholarship, and uh- I may have told him that I was trying to impress this pretty blonde girl by showing off my crazy batting skills."

Her ears turned bright red as she adjusted the strap on her helmet, refusing to make eye contact with Clarke.

She smirked, "Pretty blonde girl, huh?"

Lexa rolled her eyes and grabbed her hand again, dragging her through the door to the cage.

 

Clarke stood at the fake home plate on the ground and stared wearily at the pitching machine.

"How fast does this thing throw the ball, exactly?" the worry was apparent in her voice.

Lexa looked up from fiddling with the machine at her question. She hadn't considered Clarke might be afraid of a contraption launching balls at her at neck-breaking speed.

"I can set the speed to go as slow as you want," she offered, "Have you never done this before?"

Clarke laughed, "I know I look may _super_ athletic, but the sportiest thing I have ever done is beer pong."

Oh.

"Oh," she replied dumbly, "Do you...do you want me to show you how?"

Clarke shrugged, a smirk finding purchase in the corners of her mouth, "Well, I mean you _are_ supposed to be impressing me with your skills, right? It would only make sense."

Lexa nodded, smiling. She stood up from the machine and went to stand behind her. She placed her arms and hands gently on top of Clarke's.

"Is this okay?" she asked carefully. When Clarke nodded, she took a step closer and placed her hands more firmly over Clarke's on the bat.

Clarke could see the tips of Lexa's tattoo peeking out from beneath her rolled up sleeves, and blushed thinking how strong and warm her hands felt.

"Okay, so don't choke up on the bat too much, and keep your hands about this far apart," she adjusted Clarke's grip on the bat just slightly, "Now when the machine launches the ball, just keep your eye on it and follow it all the way to the bat and then," she simulated the swinging motion, "Boom. Homerun."  
  
Clarke looked over her shoulder and smirked, "Can I just point out how cliché this is? You getting all handsy to show the hot blonde how to do the thing."

When Lexa turned her head to grin back at her, Clarke's stomach dropped, suddenly realizing their close proximity.

"Hey, despite what Raven says, I do have _some_ game," she joked, though her voice was lower than usual, "I wasn't kidding when I said I came here to impress a pretty blonde."

Clarke couldn't help smiling back at her, eyes finding her lips for a moment. Lexa squeezed her hands lightly before taking a step back, ears burning at the tips, and Clarke cleared her throat to hide the matching flush in her cheeks.

By the time she looked up, Lexa was already making her way back to the machine.

"How do you know so much about baseball, aren't you a foreigner?" Clarke asked, regarding her for a moment.  
  
Lexa looked surprised by the question for a moment before shrugging, "I played when I was a kid," she said simply, "My hometown had a kids league and a professional team. Stuttgart Reds."  
  
"Huh."

Clarke pondered a little Lexa with sun burnt cheeks and a wild brown mane sticking out from underneath her baseball cap.

"So are you ready for me to turn this thing on?" Lexa interrupted her train of thought, kneeling down next to the machine.

Clarke put on a cocky smirk, "Sure, I can show you how we hit balls here in 'Merica."

"Is that a challenge, Griffin?"

Clarke shrugged one shoulder smugly.

Lexa gave her a wry, crooked grin, "I think you are underestimating how competitive we Germans are."  
  
"Dinner tonight says I can hit more balls than you."  
  
Lexa beamed, a determined glint in her eye, "You're on, Griffin."

 

Needless to say, Clarke was ordering take-out for the two of them later that night. Lexa only gloated a little.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm so sorry for how long this took. I promise I have more written, I'm just super busy with school and work right now, but May 11th is graduation and then I'm free! I'm going to try to post more as I go, but I wanted to post an update as soon as I could. The next chapter should actually be up soon, because I already have most of it written. Let me know what you think, and as always, you can find me on tumblr at lesbotps.
> 
> -R


	4. Meet Satan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa are growing closer and Lexa continues to be a gay disaster. We also get to meet Clarke's demonic roommate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you all for not giving up on me. After being so late with the last update, I'm going to try a new thing where I update in slightly smaller increments so that I can update more often. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Over the course of the next few days, Lexa found spending time with Clarke, even beyond their designated lunch dates, was becoming a staple in her daily routine, and a rather enjoyable one at that. They ate, they joked around, they quizzed each other on birthdays, family members, hobbies; they played games like "never have I ever" or "truth or dare" (without the dare part); they just _were._  And honestly? It was simple, but spending time with Clarke was quickly becoming the best part of her day.

To her surprise, it was Clarke who had initiated bringing their one-on-one "study time", as Raven liked to call it, beyond the confines of their lunch hour, often finding excuses to stay a few minutes longer at lunch, to come over to the apartment and hang out in the evening; they had even begun texting each other when they weren't together, which Lexa was not accustom to. 

It started with Clarke sending little texts here and there, asking random questions, making plans to meet up, until eventually they began to text each other regularly throughout the day. 

 **Clarke:**  Would you still be my friend if I looked like this? 

 **Clarke:** Img_050317 

Lexa had been sitting in on a particularly dull lecture series on the gender differences in nicotine addiction in rats when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She barely had to glance at the screen to know who it was, letting out a small horrified gasp at the image she found.

 **Lexa:**   Oh my god Clarke what is that thing? 

Though she had been trying her hardest to pay attention in the beginning, at this point Clarke was a welcomed distraction. 

 **Clarke:**  It's a proboscis monkey lol I think they're kind of cute. 

Lexa rolled her eyes, smiling to herself. Of _course_ Clarke thought the heinous goblin monkey was cute. She glanced around to make sure nobody was watching her before responding, hiding her phone part way under her leg.

 **Lexa:** Yikes. That is one ugly monkey.

 **Lexa:**  I would still be your friend, though.

 **Clarke:** Promise?

 **Lexa:** Promise.

 **Lexa:** I'm glad you look like you, though.

When she looked up, she could see Murphy giving her a sarcastically admonishing look. Her cheeks tinged red at being caught. Even if it was only by Murphy. 

 **Clarke:** See, that's why you're the best <#

 **Clarke:** oops <3*

 **Lexa:** <# <#

 

As the week wore on, the prospect of moving day was also becoming more of a reality for everyone involved. Clarke and Raven couldn't stop talking about how fun it was going to be to live with one another again, often breaking out into "reunited and it feels so good" whenever they were withing a ten foot radius of one another, while Lexa found busying herself with preparing the apartment for Clarke to move in was a lot easier than thinking about Clarke moving in. By Thursday, she had managed to clean every cleanable surface in the apartment, fix the leaking sink in the bathroom, alphabetize the DVDs, and consolidate all of her belongings into a little less than half the space in her room. 

When she had finally finished stuffing her last pair of socks into her drawer, she plopped down on her bed, vowing never to fold another item of clothing again when her phone went off  

 **Clarke:** So how much do you want to help me pack up all my shit tonight? :)

Well maybe she could swear off folding tomorrow.

 

 

 

Later that afternoon, Lexa showed up at Clarke's door with a sandwich from her favorite deli. She made sure they put extra pickles on it this time.

"Oh be still my heart," Clarke crooned as Lexa handed over the sandwich, "And to think, I was going to pick up a dirty water dog instead." 

"Eh, someone once told me the way to a woman's heart was through her stomach," Lexa shrugged, smiling as she followed Clarke into the small apartment and dropped the rest of the food on the kitchen counter. 

"Mmmm they were not wrong," Clarke hummed as she took a bite of her sandwich. She made her way to the fridge to pull out two hard lemonades and handed one to Lexa. 

"Want me to give you the grand tour?" she asked, cracking a smile as she cracked open her drink. 

"Sure," Lexa grinned, gratefully accepting her drink and taking a long swig as Clarke lead her deeper into the apartment. 

Having never seen where Clarke lived before, Lexa was curiously taking in what she could see of the small living space. It was comfortable for sure, with an old worn couch and a beat up coffee table in the living room; her bedroom was about a third the size of Lexa's with a comfy looking full size bed and no room for much else. There were pictures and mementos here and there, but what struck her the most were the pieces of art strewn about the walls.  

"Did you do all these?" Lexa asked, pointing to the various, paintings, figure drawings, and scraps of paper littering the walls. 

"Most of them, yeah," Clarke smiled, joining the other woman admiring her work, "I actually almost went to art school before deciding to become a social worker." 

"They're amazing," Lexa breathed, eyes trying to scan as much of each image as she could. "You're amazing," she added, looking over at Clarke. Her cheeks felt hot under Lexa's intense gaze, "Why didn't you pursue it?" 

Clarke shrugged, turning away from Lexa's scrutiny to start grabbing some of the empty boxes piled up in one corner of her room, "Believe it or not, Lex, with as little money as I make now, I'd be making even less as an artist."  

With one final scan of the walls, Lexa turned to join her in separating the boxes, "Well I'd pay good money to have your art in my house," she said, smiling when she caught Clarke's eye. 

"Good thing we're going to be roomies, then, huh?" Clarke winked, nudging her shoulder. 

Lexa blanched for a second. _Roomies._  All week she had managed to push off the thought of Clarke's impending move-in; what it would mean for her life, for their newly budding friendship. This whole thing had been happening so fast, she'd barely had time to realize it was actually happening. And as she sat on the floor of Clarke's bedroom, her life spread out before them, ready to be packed up into boxes, Lexa couldn't help but think about what this would mean for Clarke, too. Sure, hers and Raven's apartment was a bit bigger than this one and maybe it was in a better area, maybe Clarke didn't have the best relationship with her current roommate, but her whole life was here. Crammed into this little room, Clarke had made her own cozy corner of this bustling city, and looking around, Lexa could see how she'd managed to touch every aspect of it. From the paint-speckled floors to the pale yellow walls to the pieces of art covering them, Clarke had poured herself into this space, making it her own, and now she was giving it all up for Lexa. The guilt sat heavy and hard in her chest like a brick.   

 

Clarke could sense the shift in Lexa. She had a far away look in her eyes as her long, delicate fingers fidgeted anxiously with one of the cardboard lids 

"You okay?" Clarke asked, nudging her again with her shoulder, trying to be reassuring but not push.

"Yeah, I uh-" Lexa looked like she was chewing on the right words to say, "I just-" her cheeks flushed as her fingers continued their pursuit of the box lid. Clarke reached out and stilled her hand, imploring Lexa to look at her. 

"Why are you doing this for me?" Lexa asked, meeting Clarke's eyes with an unsteady gaze.  

Clarke released her hand and sat back, slightly taken aback by the question, but understanding it none the less. With everything they've spoken about in the last few days, they still hadn't managed to have this conversation yet somehow. 

"Honestly? At first I think I was just bullshitting," she admitted, "But then I thought about how I would feel if I were in your shoes."   

Lexa focused her eyes back on the lid in her hands.  

"And how is that?" she asked quietly.  

"Like shit."  

Lexa let out a breathy laugh, "Well you're not wrong."  

Clarke regarded her for a second before Lexa met her eyes and smiled. It was a genuine smile that reached those intense green eyes. Clarke's chest felt tight and she found she had to look away, busying herself with the boxes in front of her.  

"I don't really have anything left back home - back in Germany," Lexa said softly, "After my parents died, I lived alone for a year in our house  before I decided I needed to start over. That's why I came here, to find myself a new life."  

Clarke may have known Lexa for a few years, but she was a very private person. She certainly never talked about her family or her life before coming to the U.S. She realized how important it was that she was opening up to her now. It felt secret. Special.

It also felt painfully familiar. 

"My Dad died when I was 17," Clarke confessed, "My house felt so alien without him, and my Mom and I dealt differently with his death. We drifted apart."  

Lexa focused on Clarke. Listening intently.   

"That's actually how I ended up out here. I just had to get away. I needed to find a new life too."  

"Thank you for telling me that, Clarke," Lexa offered, briefly squeezing her hand, "I hope you found what you were looking for here."  

"I think I did," she smiled, "I'm much happier here than I was  in Chicago."  

"I'm glad," Lexa said, her smile warm and genuine.  

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Returning to the task of separating and folding the new boxes. 

"So did you find what you were looking for?" Clarke asked after a few minutes. 

A far away smile appeared in the corners of Lexa's mouth as she contemplated the ceiling, "You know, I found so much more here. I found friends, the rest of my family, my dream job, the greatest city on Earth," she took a deep breath and looked over at the blonde, nudging her with her shoulder, "A beautiful girl to hang out with me everyday."  

Clarke rolled her eyes and laughed, "Okay tiger, cool your jets."  

Laughing, Lexa took a long sip from her drink, "Seriously, though? What you are doing for me is so much more than you could ever know, Clarke. I am so so grateful to have you as my friend."  

Clarke smiled and nudged Lexa back, "See, and _that's_ why I'm doing this."  

"So that my life is indebted to you?"  

"Exactly." 

 

After that, things were easy. As it turns out, packing up everything you own into boxes is a lot more fun when drinking and good company are involved. At some point, the alcohol got the better of them and Clarke and Lexa found themselves belting Spice Girls and dancing around the room, while half empty boxes lay strewn about the floor, forgotten. 

"If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my-" 

"Gotta get with my friends-" Clarke sang when the music was suddenly cut off. 

"Hey!" she pouted, as Lexa turned to find the source of the interruption. 

Standing in the doorway was a skinny brunette with sharp, pointed features looking thoroughly unimpressed. 

"Clarke, would you mind if you and your…friend," she glanced at Lexa like she was something contagious, "Didn't make so much noise? Some people have to work _real_ jobs for a living," she said pointedly, her voice dripping with venom.  

 _Oh._ This must be the roommate. Lexa gaped at the girl in disbelief. No wonder Clarke called her Satan.  

Glancing over at Clarke, she could see she was seething with anger, just about ready to explode. Lexa squeezed her wrist reassuringly before making her way to the door, hand extended to the other woman in a gesture of peace, "I apologize if we were being disruptive. I don't believe we've met. I'm Lexa Woods, Clarke's fiancé." She tested the way it tasted coming out of her mouth. She quite liked it.

From behind her, Clarke's anger subsided momentarily and her chest swelled. 

The woman eyed Lexa's hand skeptically for a moment before slowly taking it. "Kari, Clarke's roommate," she said, holding Lexa under a scrutinizing gaze before retracting her hand and guardedly folding her arms across her chest, "I didn't know Clarke was engaged." 

"Well, only recently engaged," Lexa explained, trying her best to keep cool. 

"Oh, so this is why you're bailing on our lease dead smack in the middle of it?" Kari deadpanned, looking right past Lexa to glare at Clarke. 

"It's not _dead smack in the middle_ you f-" 

Lexa's eyes widened and she turned back to Clarke, standing between the two women. "It's okay, Clarke, it's not a big deal," she assured her softly, opening her hand for Clarke to take. Though still bristly from Kari's comments, Clarke took her hand and laced their fingers together. Lexa turned back to face Kari, ignoring the heat blooming in her chest. 

"I'll take care of the penalty and Clarke's half of the remaining three month's rent, if that would make you feel better," she offered the other woman. Clarke squeezed her hand, but her eyes remained trained on Kari. 

A skeptically interested look broke through her impassive features as she glanced from Clarke to Lexa to their joined hands. 

"That would be fine," she said slowly, turning her gaze again to Clarke, "Must be nice to have a Sugar Mama to pay your bills for you, huh?" 

Lexa held Clarke back by their joined hands and a strong grasp on her shoulder, leaning in close to grab her eyes. 

"She's not worth it," she muttered quietly, rubbing her thumb soothingly over Clarke's knuckles. It seemed to bring Clarke's rage down to a simmer at least for the moment. She didn't understand how these two managed to survive five minutes together, never mind two years living under the same roof.  

She turned again to face the other woman, a placating smile plastered on her face, "As I said before, I apologize for being disruptive, we'll try to keep it down." Kari still looked unimpressed, though seemed appeased enough to drop it. 

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes as she turned to leave. 

Once gone, Lexa dropped Clarke's hand and went to close the door. 

"You weren't kidding about her, huh?" she breathed, gesturing to the door with her thumb. 

"Fucking _Satan_ ," Clarke said, raising her voice just enough in hopes to carry it to her roommates ears. 

Lexa laughed, walking back to the abandoned boxes on the floor and folding some more of Clarke's clothes. "Can you believe she called me your Sugar Mama?" She smirked, looking over her shoulder at Clarke. 

She let out a genuine laugh that made Lexa chest unclench a bit. 

"I mean, you basically offered to buy me out of my lease without blinking an eye," she knelt down to join Lexa in resuming the task at hand. "You know, you really don't have to do that," she said quietly, face turned away as she lidded a full box. 

"I know," Lexa shifted her attention to sorting through a pile of shoes, "I want to, though. It's the least I can do, really." 

"I feel like you say that about everything," Clarke mused, smiling over at her. 

"It is, though," Lexa insisted, tossing two black flats into a box labeled 'work shit'.  

"You can't use that forever." 

"I also think it's in our marriage contract," Lexa said factually, piling two full boxes in a corner of the small room, "Something Raven put in about me 'financing your booshie'," she chuckled. 

"Huh, I guess Raven _is_ useful for something, then," Clarke smirked, lidding another full box and starting on a new one. 

 

Over the course of the next few hours, they managed to pack up Clarke's entire life into the plethora of little boxes and move them out into the living room, with the exception of her bed, her sheets, and the clothes she would be wearing to work the next day.  

"Thanks for helping me with all of this," Clarke sighed as she sat down on the couch, exhausted and surrounded by the mountain of boxes. 

"Not a problem," Lexa said, stacking the last box neatly on top of a pile in the corner of the living room, "As I said, it's the least I can do after…you know...everything," she trailed off. 

A tangible silence sat between them for a moment.  

"Well I guess I'll just head out, then," Lexa said, rubbing the back of her neck, "I'll see you tomorrow?" 

Clarke offered her a smile that looked almost disappointed, "Yeah, sure. I'll see you tomorrow." 

Without thinking too hard about it, Lexa went over to the couch and leaned down to place a kiss on Clarke's cheek. She lingered there for only a moment, missing the hitch in Clarke's breath over the pounding in her own ears. 

"Goodnight Clarke," she said softly as she pulled away. 

"Night Lex," Clarke breathed, eyes still closed. 

As she made her way to the front door, Lexa was stopped by a hand on her wrist. 

"Lexa, wait," she turned around to find Clarke standing before her, looking suddenly shy. A beautiful blush dusting her cheeks. 

"I um- Do you want to watch a movie with me?" she asked, gesturing to the living room. She didn't know why, but she wasn't ready for Lexa to leave just yet. They had been having such a good time together, she wanted to hold on to it for just a little while longer.  

Lexa smiled, endeared and somewhat confused by her nerves, "Yeah, sure. That sounds great." 

"Great," Clarke breathed, confused by her own sudden lack of cool, "What did you want to watch?" she asked, turning back to the living room. 

Lexa shrugged, an easy smile appearing on her face, "Whatever you want, I'm not picky." 

"Why am I not surprised by that?" Clarke mused, grabbing the TV remote and turning on Netflix. "Do you like Buffy?" 

Lexa shrugged, "I don't know, I've never seen it." 

With the look Clarke gave her, you'd think she'd said she likes to kill puppies in her free time. 

"You've _never_ seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" she gaped, "The greatest teen drama to ever grace network television?" 

Lexa froze taking off her jacket, "Uh…no?" 

"Well I know what we're doing tonight and for the foreseeable future," Clarke said, choosing the first episode from her 'recently watched' list and turning back to Lexa, "You sit," she gestured to the small couch, "I'm going to go whip us up some popcorn, and then I'm gonna educate your foreign ass." 

 

Within the first 20 minutes of watching the show, Lexa knew it wasn't her bag of chips. The special effects were cheesy and the acting was, well, cheesy, but when Clarke subtly reached over to lace their fingers together and tucked herself into Lexa's side ("Just in case Kari comes back out", Clarke insisted), she couldn't care less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you guys so much for sticking with me. Sorry this one isn't so long, but it helps me to turn out content quicker I think when I do it in increments. Next chapter, Clexa goes clubbing and our girls finally move in. 
> 
> As usual, find me on tumblr at Lesbotps 
> 
> -R


	5. Moving On Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa move in together and are starting to feel and act pretty gay for each other. Also, Return of the Abby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know these updates are inconsistent, but I promise it's only because I don't post until I feel like it's good enough. I almost posted yesterday, but I'm glad I didn't because I fixed a lot of things I was unhappy about. I also moved Octavia's visit to make it more cohesive. You'll see. You guys are amazing. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also still looking for a beta if anyone is interested!

As excited as Clarke had been to see Octavia, she was relieved to receive the text Friday morning that, due to some unforeseen work emergency, she had to reschedule her visit for the following weekend instead. That gave her and Lexa an extra week to polish their love sick puppy act before having to face their first real test trying it out on her.

Aside from her brushes with Abby and Finn (who had sent Clarke a gaudy bouquet of white roses with a pissant excuse for an apology pinned to it, begging her to meet and talk to him, which she did not respond to), it seemed that Raven's suggestion of 'acting the part' was doing its job, at least when it came to acquaintances and strangers. But Octavia was different.

Being one of her best and oldest friends, O was always the person who saw right through Clarke's bullshit, no matter how much time they had spent apart. Whether it was Clarke's drinking after her father died, that stupid crush on her older brother, Bellamy, in high school, or lying about stuffing her bra in sixth grade, every time, Octavia saw right through it and _every time_ , she called her out. As frustrating as it had been before, it bordered on terrifying now. With everything that was at stake, she and Lexa had to be careful not to let anyone else in on their charade if they could help it. Which is why getting people like Octavia and her mother, people who _really_ knew her, to believe it enough to endorse them for the interview seemed a daunting task.

One that could apparently wait another week.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Clarke rolled over to place her phone on her bedside table and froze when she was met with nothing but empty space and her blank walls staring back at her.

Oh yeah. It was moving day. She blinked as the reality washed over her. This was her _last_ time waking up in this room. All week, Clarke had been looking forward to this, anticipating the moment when she could finally leave this shit hole and its demonic inhabitants behind and never look back, but as she took in her room one last time before getting up to get ready for work, Clarke felt the magnitude of this moment begin to seep through her skin.

It was one of those moments that felt like standing at the edge of a precipice, of being blatantly aware of the fact that a chapter of her life was ending and not being entirely sure what lay ahead in the next. For a moment, she found herself resisting the urge to cling to the daemons she knew and just stay put. But Raven needed her, Lexa, the girl who she had grown so close to over the last week, _needed_ her, and by all accounts, sheneeded _herself_  to get the fuck out of this place.

She'd only intended to stay here for a few months while she was 'between places', but as the loan bills came in and the pay grade stayed low, what had started off as a temporary fix turned into two years of being contractually tied to the actual Antichrist herself. It was like a rebound relationship that had spun way out of control and she just needed _out_.

Heaving a sigh, she dragged herself out of her bed for the last time and left all her trepidation behind in it. 

 

 

Later that day, Clarke met up with Raven and Lexa after work so that they could all start moving some her things into their apartment (or at least what they could fit of it into Raven's sedan in one trip). 

As if moving wasn't fun enough, the drive was long, the weather was _just_ warm enough outside to be uncomfortable, and, of course, as though Harlem needed one final 'fuck you' before she was out of there for good, the elevator to Clarke's third floor apartment was out of service when they got there (which Raven bemoaned the _entire_ time). All in all, though it really could have gone worse. In a matter of only about two hours, the three of them managed to get her bed and all of her other furniture broken down and piled in a corner of the living room for the movers to pick up the next morning, and even managed to fit a large portion of the boxes into Raven's car before they were heading back down to the Upper East Side, where Clarke was delighted to find both the air conditioning  _and_ the elevators worked.

 

"That's it," she huffed as she sprawled out on Lexa's bed after taking what felt like her 100th trip from the car, "I'm never moving ever again."

Raven threw down the box in her hands with a thud and made her way over to collapse on the bed next to Clarke.

"Why is all your shit so heavy, Griffin?" she groaned into the sheets.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I only packed my textbooks and dumbells."

"That'd be more believable if you actually owned _either_ of those things, Griff," she snorted 

Clarke's retort died on her tongue when she caught sight of Lexa coming into the room carrying the last two boxes. Sometime over the course of the move, Lexa had lost her work shirt in favor of a grey cotton undershirt which, despite the air conditioning, was now stained dark all along the back with sweat. Clarke had seen Lexa before in much more revealing outfits, but she guessed she had never stopped to truly appreciate how nice her body was. In that moment, she couldn't help but notice how toned Lexa's arms were, the delicate slope of her neck as it slid under her collar, the lean muscles of her back through the wet material- 

"Clarke?" The sound of her own name pulled her from her thoughts.

Suddenly she noticed all eyes were on her.

"Did you hear me?" Lexa asked, concern written on her features.

"Oh I think she was a little too busy to hear you, Woods," Raven smirked up at Clarke, who could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

"Shut up, Ray, I'm just tired," she grumbled, clearing her throat and shaking the other thoughts from her head, "I'm sorry Lexa, what did you say?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to start unpacking these?" she gestured to the boxes in her hands.

Clarke was so tired, she honestly couldn't fathom lifting another thing until she'd at least taken a 3 hour nap. 

"Uhm, do you mind if we wait off on that until tomorrow? I'm so exhausted."

"Sure," Lexa shrugged, placing the boxes carefully on the floor. 

There was a moment of awkward silence as they found themselves searching for something to say. None of them were exactly sure what was supposed to happen next.

 _"_ So uh," Lexa ran a hand through her sweaty hair and gestured to Clarke's attire, "Do you have clothes to change into? Or did you need to borrow some, because you can't be comfortable in that." 

Clarke looked from the stuffy button up and dress pants she was still wearing from work to the 20 or more boxes piled around the room. Now that Lexa mentioned it, she was dying to get into a pair of sweats.

"Actually, would you mind if I just borrowed something for tonight? I really don't feel like going through all these boxes just to find a pair of sweatpants."

Lexa just nodded, seemingly grateful to have something to focus on and went over to her drawers to dig up something comfy for Clarke to wear. 

"Damn Griffs, you're easier than I thought," Raven chuckled from her side of the bed, "It took Woods all of four seconds to get you in her pants."

Lexa fumbled in her search through her drawers.

"Raven, shut the fuck up," Clarke groaned and smacked her with a pillow.

Raven grabbed the pillow from her and slipped it behind her head, settling deeper into the bed.

"You should totally call dibs on this side of the bed, Clarke, it's  _so_ comfy."

Clarke blanched.  _Her side?_ Shit. In all the other nonsense, she completely forgot that there was only one bed in here. That there was no way she was fitting hers too.

Lexa, however, had certainly realized this already.

"Actually, I was just going to let Clarke have the bed," she said almost too evenly, "I'm going to take the couch."

Clarke couldn't help but notice Lexa's refusal to look up at them, busying herself with sifting through more of her drawers. 

"No way, Lexa. Let me take the couch," she insisted, "I'm not going to kick you out of your own room."

It wasn't ideal to sleep on the couch until they could think of a better idea, but she couldn't live with herself if she made Lexa take the couch over her own bed.

Lexa finally stood up from her drawers and tossed a pair of navy sweatpants and a worn grey UPenn sweatshirt to Clarke, shaking her head, "You're not kicking me out, Clarke. Please take my room? You're doing enough for me as it is. This is the least I can do."

Clarke was really tired of hearing that. So far, she hadn't done anything for Lexa except use up all her mobile data and now take over her room.

"You really can't use that for everything, Lex," she deadpanned, "Can we please talk about this? What if we both slept in here? It's not like I've never shared a bed with one of my friends before."

As cool as she was keeping her voice, her heart clenched slightly at the thought of sleeping in the same bed as Lexa. 

Lexa's eyes widened comically, as a deep flush took it's place on her cheeks, "Clarke, I- we shu-I uh-" she stammered.

Clarke could tell that was the wrong suggestion to make, but she was at a loss. She didn't want to kick Lexa out of her own room, but she also didn't want to make her uncomfortable sleeping in her bed. 

"If I may, Clarke," Raven interjected, taking pity on Lexa, "What I think this awkward, sputtering creature is trying to say is that you sleeping on the couch would be a total downgrade from your old place, and the contract _does_ say that your price tag was booshie new digs."

"See? Exactly," Lexa recovered gratefully, her ears still a deep shade of red, "It would be a violation of our legally binding marriage contract, Clarke."

"Yup, legally binding," Raven nodded, "Perfectly legitimate."

Clarke huffed at being out numbered, still not satisfied with the arrangement but too tired to keep fighting it tonight.

Taking her lack of response as a white flag, Lexa took the opportunity to flee the conversation, slinging a pair of clean sweatpants and a tshirt over her shoulder before mumbling something about a shower and fleeing the room.

Clarke grumbled as she slid off the bed to change out of her work clothes. 

"I gotta say, Clarkey, you sure know how to pick 'em," Raven said, kicking off her shoes and folding her arms behind her head, "That kid is weird."

"She's not weird," Clarke defended, stepping out of her slacks and trading them for the clothes Lexa had lent her, "She's sweet."

Holding up the UPenn sweatshirt, Clarke could tell by the faded letters and the soft, worn material that it had been well loved.  

"Oh my god," Raven rolled her eyes, "You're almost as bad as she is."

Clarke gave her an incredulous look, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tugging the sweatshirt over her head, her senses were immediately overtaken by a scent that was distinctly Lexa. Soft, clean, calming. Without thinking about it, she brought the collar to her nose and breathed it in. She looked up to find Raven's eyebrows raised at her.

"What?" she pulled the hood up to hide her creeping blush.

"Nothing," Raven sighed, "Bunch of weirdos, you two, that's all." She got up and stretched her arms over her head, "So what's for dinner?"

 

After ordering enough pizza to feed a small army, the three of them were beyond full and ready for bed, exhausted from the days festivities. Having been the first to surrender, Lexa was already laying on the couch with a blanket and pillow when Clarke and Raven passed through the living room on their way to bed. Clarke couldn't help but notice how ridiculous Lexa's tall frame looked curled up on the tiny two person sofa.

"Commander," Raven nodded, offering her a two finger salute as she passed. 

"Reyes," Lexa nodded in return. Her eyes fell to Clarke and she smiled, offering her a nod as well, "Clarke." 

Clarke crossed her arms, a smile teetering on the edges of her lips, "You happy with yourself all crammed on that couch?" 

"Crammed? Clarke, look at all this leg room," Lexa grinned, making a show of extending her long legs over the sofa. Her calves hung half way off the armrest. 

"You cannot be comfortable like that," she chuckled. 

Lexa's grin widened and she patted the sliver of couch in front of her, "She's a lot comfier than she looks. In fact, I think I might have even gotten the better half of the deal." 

Clarke rolled her eyes and made her way to sit along Lexa's side on the edge of the couch. 

"See?" she teased, pushing Clarke's leg down into the squishy cushion for show, "Super comfy." 

Fighting back a smile, Clarke grabbed her hand to cease her bouncing and laced their fingers together. That was something they did now, right? It was practice.

Clarke sat in contemplation for a moment, distractedly playing with Lexa's fingers. She was finding she quite liked her hands. They were soft and delicate, but strong and calloused just at the tips. She'd noticed that her fingers tended to be nervous at first touch, but grew more confident as they became more familiar with Clarke's skin. 

It was the sure strokes of those long, nimble fingers across Clarke's knuckles that brought her from her thoughts and back to the small sofa and Lexa's patient, reassuring smile.

They had spent a majority of dinner bickering back and forth about different arrangements to both satisfy the contract and keep Lexa off the couch- bunk beds, a time share, a nightly game of rock, paper, scissors- but Lexa was possibly more stubborn than Clarke and simply wouldn't budge (Raven was, of course, no help whatsoever). No matter how many times she insisted she was okay with the arrangement, however, the gnawing in Clarke's chest convinced her to try one more time, "You sure you don't want to sleep in your room with me? I don’t know how you feel about sharing, but I promise I don't bite." 

Lexa's smile softened and she sat up, not letting go of Clarke's hand, "Clarke, I _promise_  I'm fine out here, yeah? And It has nothing to do with you or your questionable biting habits." 

Clarke glanced pointedly at her legs dangling off the edge of the sofa.

"Besides," Lexa pressed on, ignoring her, "As much fun as we've been having together lately, I want to make sure you have your own space to go away from me, because pretty soon, we'll have to convince people that you like me _a lot_  and the last thing we need is for you to grow sick of me." 

Clarke couldn't help but laugh at the prospect of _her_ getting sick of _Lexa._ If anything, it would be the other way around. But she knew that she was fighting a losing battle at this point.

"You _promise_ you're okay out here?"

"I promise," Lexa held her free pinkie up to Clarke.

Grinning, she looped her pinkie around Lexa's and pulled her into a hug, wrapping her arms around her neck. Lexa let out a surprised squeak, but only took a moment to reciprocate, circling her arms around Clarke's waist and relaxing into her.

"Goodnight Clarke," she breathed into blonde hair.

"Goodnight Lex," Clarke murmured into the crook of her neck, "Thanks for lending me some jammies and, you know, your entire room."

Lexa chuckled, "Thanks for agreeing to break federal laws to keep me in the US."

Clarke let out a breathy laugh and gave her a squeeze before pulling back slightly to look up at her, "Yeah I guess when you put it that way, we're kind of even for now, huh?"

"For now," Lexa hummed, shifting to lean down and kiss Clarke's temple. The gesture made her skin buzz. "Now go enjoy your spoils and leave me to my comfy couch."

 

Getting up to go to go back to her room, Clarke could feel the lingering tingle of Lexa's lips on her skin. And as she laid in Lexa's bed wrapped up in her comfy UPenn sweatshirt, Clarke thought she might really enjoy pretending.  

 

 

The weekend passed in a blur of moving vans, reheated leftover pizza and unpacking boxes. So. Many. Boxes. For Clarke, waking up on Saturday was disorienting. Strange room, strange bed, strange clothes. It took her a few minutes to gain her bearings, but even just with the addition of her bookshelf, easel, and some old pictures, by Monday the new place was starting to feel more like home.

One key difference about her new room though, aside from the obvious change of scenery, was that  Lexa's bed was exponentially more comfortable than Clarke's old one. She wasn't sure exactly what magic made it feel like she was laying in an actual nest of clouds, but whatever it was, getting up on Monday morning seemed much harder than it usually did. Having been startled out of sleep earlier that morning by Lexa's failed attempt at sneaking into the room to get ready for work, Clarke had been awake for a while  but had only just made it into a sitting position, still enjoying the toasty solitude that Lexa's (now stolen) sweatshirt and down comforter provided.  Knowing she actually had about twenty minutes before she  _ had_ to get up to get ready for work, Clarke scrolled lazily through various news feeds before opening her email, where she was surprised to find only a single unread message. 

The dread rose in her stomach the moment she read who it was from.

**To:** Clarke Griffin   
**From:** Dr. Abigail Griffin, MD    
**Date:** 10 March   
**Subject:** DO NOT IGNORE  

Hello Clarke, 

Since our conversation last week, I have had some time to cool down and process the whole situation. I hope you have taken time to do the same. 

With that said, if you are truly serious about marrying Miss. Woods, you will both come to Chicago so that I can meet her _before_ the wedding. We can then discuss this matter further in person. Do know that I will not allow the proceedings to take place before I have at least met this women. 

I am free a week from Thursday. Please see to it that you make the appropriate arrangements as soon as you can. 

Regards, 

Dr. Abigail Griffin, MD   
Department of Oncology   
Mercy Hospital and Medical Center   
Chicago, IL 

 

_Shit._

 

"We haven't spoken outside of a random email or text in almost _seven_ _months_ , Ray. For all she knows, I could have moved to Texas and changed my name to Jim, and _now_ she cares so much about what I do? _Now_ she wants to see me just because I'm getting married?"   
   
"You're right, Griff." Raven appeased as Clarke paced back and forth, seething.   
   
"And who the fuck is she to tell me I can't marry Lexa? Just because _she_ hasn't met her yet?" Clarke snorted, "Fuck off."   
   
Raven had been listening to Clarke's tirade since she burst through her bedroom door almost thirty minutes ago, "Clarke, you know I'm 100% on your side and love you more than my own actual mother, but I think Mama G is still just a little shocked. I mean can you blame her? No mention of this woman ever and suddenly you're marrying her? It's a lot to take in." 

Clarke huffed and continued her pacing back and forth with renewed vigor. She knew Raven was right, but she was incensed that her mother could pointedly ignore her existence for the better part of the last decade and then suddenly act like she had any say in what she did. She really just needed to be mad at her right now.   
   
"Maybe if she cared to reach out beyond a fucking text once every three months, she'd know about my life!"   
Clarke's nostrils were flared. She looked dangerous.   
   
"Babes, again, I love you, but you do know you and Lexa haven't _actually_ been dating for the last year, right? That was a big fat lie. Like this whole relationship is actually made up."   
   
"That's beside the point," Clarke huffed, "God, she just _infuriates_ me. Always trying to control me, even from 1200 miles away. " 

Raven knew that Clarke and her mom had always been caught up in a bit of a power struggle. Part of the reason Clarke moved all the way out to New York was to get away from Abby's constant hassling over med school, amid a multitude of other things which deemed Clarke a disappointment in her mother's eyes. Raven was finally starting to understand where all of this rage was coming from. This really had nothing to do with Lexa or their impromptu marriage. 

"I'll fucking marry her tomorrow out of spite!" Clarke continued, waving her hands wildly at the walls as she yelled at no one in particular, "I am 27 years old, I don't need her permission to do _anything_!" 

"I mean, you _could_ do that," Raven interjected, " _or_ , since you actually need her to be on board for the Immigration interview, you could just appease her for the time being." 

Clarke slowed her pacing and groaned. She knew Raven was right. Why is she always right? She let out a long sigh and made her way over to plop down next to her on the bed. This was as close to a white flag as she was going to get. 

Raven put her arm around Clarke as she settled into her shoulder, "And just think, after the interview, you can go be as spiteful as you want."  

"You promise?" 

"I promise," Raven planted a kiss on the top of her head, "Of course, then you'll have to deal with what Lexa will think of her wife moving to Texas and changing her name to Jim. I don't think she's into Jims to be perfectly honest with you." 

Clarke sat up, an odd look on her face. 

"No, really, I think she's into chicks," Raven hummed. When the expression on Clarke's face didn't change, Raven prodded her shoulder, "You okay, princess?"

"Holy shit, Lexa is going to be my wife," Clarke breathed. It was an odd thought to have and it made her chest feel heavy for some reason. 

Raven raised a brow at her, bemused, "Yeah, Clarke, that's what happens when you marry someone." She chuckled and got up out of bed to make coffee, leaving Clarke still sitting in her revelation. 

Lexa was going to be her _wife_.

 

 

_

 

 

"Can I please have a half pound of the boar's head domestic sliced thick?" 

Clarke had been acting weird all day. She texted Lexa earlier this morning telling her they needed to talk about something but other than that, she was quiet. Reserved. Lexa could tell her head was off somewhere far away when she acquiesced to taking their lunch date to the food store instead of the park without even the slightest protest. And Clarke _hated_ food shopping. But she wasn't going to press her too hard to tell her what was going on. She figured Clarke would tell her when she wanted to. But she wasn't going to lie, the anticipation she had been sitting on all day squirmed in her stomach when Clarke didn't immediately divulge to her what they needed to talk about. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe Clarke was just tired from the long weekend. Lord knows Lexa was sleep deprived, already feeling the ache in her shoulders from the past few nights sleeping on the love seat. 

"So how's work so far today?" She started tentatively, placing the ham in the basket over her arm after thanking the man at the deli counter. They made their way over to the produce section as Lexa scanned the shopping list. 

"It's okay I guess," Clarke sighed as she began collecting some Fuji apples in a produce bag, examining each one. 

Lexa waited for a moment to see if she was going to elaborate. When nothing more came, she just hummed, busying herself with some greens. She knew it was irrational, but she started going over the last few days in her head, worried she might have unknowingly done something to upset her.  

Clarke must have noticed, because she brushed the inside of Lexa's arm softly as she placed the bag of apples into the basket, giving her a reassuring half smile. Though it did nothing to quell the stirring in her stomach, Lexa breathed out some of the tension in her shoulders and returned what she hoped was more of a friendly smile and less of a grimace. They shopped in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable silence, but it was heavy with something unsure.

"How do you say apple in German?" Clarke suddenly asked, as they wandered aimlessly through the fruits, aiming the conversation down the more familiar road of twenty-questions.  

A real smile broke through Lexa's face. This was something she could do, "Apfel." 

"No fucking way," Clarke snorted. The light sound of her laughter spurred Lexa on. 

"I swear it," she held up a box of blueberries. "Blaubeeren," she enunciated. 

It drew another giggle from Clarke as she placed them in the basket.  Turning the corner, Lexa picked up a watermelon, "Wassermelone." She may have been over enunciating to be silly, but the reward of Clarke's full blown laughter was well worth it. 

"Wasser-melona? No fucking way," she laughed, "Did German just copy every English word and make it ridiculous sounding?" 

Lexa let out an indignant scoff as she placed the watermelon back on the display, " _German_  copy _English_? Clarke, I will have you know that etymologically speaking, English is a _Germanic_ language. It's essentially German's much more ridiculous younger sibling who tried and _failed-_ miserably, might I add- to disguise itself as a romance language."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Woods," Clarke drolled, obviously egging her on as they made their way slowly through the produce section to the dairy aisle. 

"Not to mention, the spelling that makes absolutely  _no_ sense," Lexa added airily, "and don't even get me started on the atrocity that is English grammar." 

Clarke had an amused smirk on her face, "I never knew you were so passionate about etymology. It's kind of cute." 

Lexa hid her blush well with a cocky shrug. With some of the tension dissipated, Clarke took a long breath and hooked her arm through Lexa's free one. 

"So," she started slowly, "What are you doing next Thursday?"

 

 

-

 

 

Aside from the increasingly uncomfortable aches from sleeping on the couch every night (and the extra elbow at the sink in the morning), Lexa had been pleasantly surprised to find that in a lot of ways, living with Clarke wasn't much different than not living with Clarke. They still met up for lunch every day and texted at work to distract each other; they still hung out in the evenings, only now instead of parting ways at the end of the night, Clarke would insist on watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the living room until one of them, usually Lexa, fell asleep. But there were certainly subtle changes, too, that Lexa wasn't quite sure could be attributed to their new living situation or not. 

For one thing, she was much more affected by seeing Clarke in her clothes than she thought she would be. Ever since the first night, Clarke had taken to wearing Lexa's favorite UPenn sweatshirt around the house so much that it was almost strange to see her _without_ it at this point. Of course, her reasons for not giving it back ranged from "It's freezing in here, Lexa," to "If I'm going to be your wife, you better get used to sharing with me", and whether it was Clarke's pout, or Lexa's own burning ears coercing her, she found it was  _really_ hard to tell Clarke Griffin 'no'. 

She also noticed that Clarke was much more touchy than before. Not in a gropey way, but more mindlessly touchy. Whether it was cuddling on the couch while they watch Buffy, leaning into Lexa's side on the subway home together, or even the light touches to the inside of Lexa's wrist before joining hands while walking down the street, Clarke had taken to seeking out these little caresses more and more. And for whatever reason, despite the persistent increase in her heart rate and near constant flush of her ears (which she brushed off as a result of her four year dating drought catching up with her), Lexa didn't seem to mind it at all.  

All in all, having Clarke as her roommate was going better than she thought. It was what came next that worried her.

With phase one of their plan more or less completed, phase two seemed to be eagerly nipping at the back of Lexa's neck, bleeding into her thoughts as she sat at her desk trying to grade a pile of horrific quizzes from her Functional Neuroanatomy class. She sat back in her chair and ran her fingers through her curly mane, huffing out a long breath. Between the anxiety of knowing she had to meet Clarke's mom next week and having to ask her boss for an extended weekend to _meet Clarke's Mom next week_ (not to mention the looming reality of Clarke's best friend coming to stay with them in just a few days), she knew she wasn't getting anything done. Pushing the papers aside, she woke her computer and began typing into the search bar. Just as she was scrolling through the website of the New York City Marriage Bureau, there was a rap at her door.

"Come in," she called, minimizing her browser and looking up to find a short, stern looking woman in her doorway. "Dr. Green," she stood, attempting to flatten the wrinkles in her shirt and tuck some stray hairs into place, "What can I do for you today?"

Dr. Indra Green was one of the brightest Computational Neuroscientists in the world who Lexa emulated throughout her graduate studies and, as the chair of the Neuroscience department at NYU, she was also Lexa's boss.

"Dr. Woods," she nodded, "I just wanted to stop by to remind you about the department meeting at 1 o'clock today and make sure that everything was ready for the presentation."

Lexa swallowed hard around the lump that formed in her throat. With everything that had been going on in the last week, she had completely forgotten about her research presentation today. Luckily, she only needed to add a few minor finishing touches, but it was still unlike her to be even remotely unprepared. She hated being sloppy.

"Of course, Dr. Green," she said, trying perhaps too hard to sound calm, "I'll be there at 12:45 to set everything up."

Indra seemed to buy it, "Very well. I look forward to seeing it."

Just as she turned to leave, Lexa took a breath and seized the opportunity of having her here face to face.

"Wait, Dr. Green," she called out, stepping around her desk, "While I have you here, I wanted to talk to you about something."

When Indra leveled her with an even look and a nod, she pushed on, "I um-I was wondering if it would be okay that I took off most of next week, as I will be traveling. I've already taken care of everything, and my TA will take my classes over for me in my absence." 

Indra raised her eyebrows in surprise, "I didn't realize there was a conference next week. Where will you be going?" 

"Oh I-uh..I'm not going to a conference," she rubbed the back of her neck and shifted uncomfortably on her feet, "I'm actually getting married soon and will be traveling to Chicago to see my in-laws." 

Indra's eyebrows seemed to disappear into her short hair. "Oh."

She looked as though she was still processing the information. Like it was the furthest thing from what she was expecting. "Congratulations, Lexa," she said finally, offering her a warm, friendly handshake, "I had no idea you were even engaged." 

"Yeah, we're pretty low profile," Lexa said, reciprocating her handshake. 

"Of course. Well, congratulations again, Lexa, and I'll see you at 1?"

"Definitely," she smiled. That was painless.

When the door closed behind her, Lexa plopped back down at her desk with a sigh. Well that was one less thing she had to worry about. Glancing at the clock, she saw she had a little over an hour to finish up her presentation, but that would also mean she'd have to forgo lunch. Swallowing her disappointment, she shot Clarke a quick text and went straight to work.

 **Lexa:** Hey Clarke. I'm really sorry, but I have a huge presentation at 1. I don't think I'll make lunch. 

 **Clarke:** Bummer. No worries, Lex. Will you have a chance to eat still?

 **Lexa:** I'll probably have to work through lunch, but I'll be okay. :)

 **Clarke:** Sounds fake. See you later though?

 **Lexa:** You bet  <#

 **Clarke:** <#

 

 

The presentation went off without a hitch. As nervous as Lexa got in social situations, when it came to talking about her research, she could talk all day long. After hanging around for a few minutes to answer some questions and receiving an appraising nod from Indra, she was heading back to her office with John on her tail. Her growling stomach reminded her that she couldn't wait to finish grading so she could grab something to eat.

As they rounded the corner, Lexa looked up and froze in her tracks at the sight of Clarke standing in the hallway outside her office. Not realizing she had stopped so suddenly, Murphy ran right into her back.  

"What the-"  

"Clarke," she said, stunned, "What are you doing here?"  

Murphy looked between the two women, momentarily confused, until realization dawned on his face, "Oh, _Clarke_ Clarke? That Clarke?"   

"Hello," the blonde said politely holding out her hand to him.  

Lexa seemed to snap out of her trance at the gesture.  

"Oh, yes, excuse me; Clarke, this is my TA, John Murphy. John, this is my fiancée, Clarke."  

"I've heard so much about you," Murphy said as he took her hand enthusiastically, "All good things, of course. Though, I'm not going to lie, I thought she was exaggerating about how beautiful you are," he added with a sly smile.   

Clarke rolled her eyes and laughed, "It's very nice to meet you, John."   

He gave her a sleazy smile as he raised her hand to his lips. Clarke raised an eyebrow at him and Lexa cleared her throat, giving him a warning look. How had she gotten stuck with such an ass for a TA?  

After narrowing her eyes at Murphy, she turned her attention back to the other woman, "Don’t get me wrong, Clarke, I'm always happy to see you, but why are you here? Is everything okay?"  

"Oh yeah, everything's fine, I just- when you said you were too busy for lunch, I wanted to make sure you still ate something, so I brought you stir fry from that place you like on 3rd," she said, offering Lexa the bag in her hand, which she had only just noticed Clarke was holding.   

Lexa looked at the offered bag for a moment before responding.  

"Thank you, Clarke, that's so kind of you," she said, taking the bag from her, stunned. A grateful smile spread across her face. She was completely taken aback by the kind gesture. Not that she didn’t think Clarke was kind, in fact, she's pretty sure Clarke is the kindest person she's ever met. She just wasn't used to people going out of their way to be kind to _her_.   

"Yeah, well I tried to eat my lunch on our bench, but it just wasn't the same without you," Clarke shrugged, smiling back at her easily.  

Though her tone was joking, the blush on her cheeks betrayed her honesty. Lexa's skin burned at the thought of Clarke missing her.   

"Would you like to come into my office for a bit? I have a few minutes," She gestured to the door next to them, reaching into her pocket for her keys.  

"No, no, I was just going to visit a new case and thought I'd drop by on my way over," she waved her off, grabbing her hand to halt her search. She held onto her hand and laced their fingers together. This was something they could do now, right? With all the practice they had been getting in, it felt almost natural.

Lexa looked down at their joined hands for a moment and grazed her thumb across Clarke's knuckles, "Okay, well I guess I'll see you later then?" she offered, trying not to sound disappointed.   

"Yeah, I'll see you when I get home."  

 _Home_.  

Both girls let the word sit between them for a moment before-  

"Well aren’t you going to kiss her?" John interjected, sounding just a tad too hopeful, Lexa turned to shoot him a glare.  

He held his hands up in mock surrender, "I mean, don’t mind me, but if a beautiful woman goes out of her way to bring me food, the least she deserves is a measly kiss goodbye. Just saying."  

Lexa rolled her eyes and turned back to Clarke. They looked at each other for a moment not knowing what to do. Lexa took in the blue of her eyes, the delicate slope of her nose, the cute freckle right above her top lip. Well what the fuck, right?   

Suddenly, Lexa was leaning in and all Clarke could do was close her eyes and lean up towards her. Their lips met in a soft, chaste kiss. As Clarke reciprocated, she brought her hand up to graze Lexa's jaw with the tips of her fingers. Every single inch of Lexa was buzzing with-with something she couldn't place. She couldn't even remember the last time she kissed someone. The contact was brief, but by no means unpleasant and as they pulled away Lexa could see a soft blush rising on Clarke's cheeks. She really was stunning.  

Clarke cleared her throat and turned back towards Murphy, "Well it was very nice meeting you, John."   

"Likewise," he grinned cockily, "And please, call me Murphy."  

She smiled at him and gave Lexa's hand a final squeeze before letting go.  

"I'll see you tonight," she said softly, giving her a meaningful look before turning down the hallway towards the elevators.  

Lexa simply nodded at her retreating form. Her face was on fire. What the hell just happened?    

Once Clarke was out of sight, she turned back to John, who had a smug look on his face.  

"So, that's Clarke, huh?" He winked suggestively. He seemed far too pleased with himself for making Lexa blush, "Does she have a sister?"  

Lexa rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket to grab her office keys.  

"Don’t you have papers you should be grading for me?" She shot as she unlocked her office door.  

"I'll even take a brother-" he continued.  

"Goodbye, John," she shot over her shoulder and shut the door behind her. 

As she leaned against the door, heart racing, lips tingling, she ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath. 

"Fuck."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Octavia makes her grand appearance and we get a whole chapter of that tropey gay shit. I promise. Thank you for your continued interest and support. 
> 
> As always, come visit me at lesbotps on tumblr
> 
> -R


	6. Murphy's Law

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia makes her grand appearance and shit gets gayer. Or maybe Lexa and Clarke just getting pretty good at this whole faking it thing? Also, everyone looks like an idiot on St Patty's Day weekend. It's a fact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! since my last update, I got a (third) job, so I have been working about 75 hours a week with no days off literally all summer until last week and I just started grad school on Monday, so I've been super busy. I have been trying to write as much as I can in my spare moments, though. Also, I cannot express to you how much I appreciate all the kudos and comments and messages. You guys are seriously amazing and I am so grateful for your continued support with this silly story. I also would have never ever ever been able to get this finished without my friend, ManualWindows. I am so grateful for your help and your friendship.
> 
> Anyway this chapter is SUPER gay. Enjoy :)

Okay, so Lexa was attracted to Clarke. Not a big deal. It wasn't part of the plan, but it was only natural, right? How could she not be attracted to her? Clarke was an attractive woman. An attractive woman  _pretending_ to be attracted to Lexa, who was... well, she was lonely. Just not used to the attention. Again, no big deal.  

That's what she kept telling herself, at least.   

"So you kissed her?" Anya's voice floated over from her laptop, propped up on the dresser.

"Well what else was I supposed to do, An?" Lexa huffed as she milled around her room looking for something green to wear. Why was everything she owned black?

" _Also..."_

" _Also was?"_

" _Also, wie war es_?" Anya prodded. Not letting her get away easy.

Lexa should have seen this coming, really. Anya always digs. Especially when she senses there's more, and Lexa was terrible at hiding things from her. She never should have told her in the first place. 

_"Weiß nicht,"_ she shrugged, turning away from her computer. Her cheeks burned as she replayed the kiss with Clarke in her head. She was ashamed to say it wasn't the first time - or even the 40th time - she'd replayed it in the last two days. 

While it was brief, the memory of Clarke's lips was still fresh enough to make her stomach hot and find her at random times throughout the day. She berated her own lack of self-control. It was almost as if she'd never kissed anyone before. Fucking pathetic.

"It was okay, I guess," she mumbled.

Finally catching a glimpse of green at the bottom of her third drawer, Lexa pulled on it, only to discover a particularly hideous green blouse. She had no idea where it had come from, but with the ruffles along the front, she knew she hadn't bought it for herself. 

Anya let out a low whistle. "Yikes. Is that what you're wearing out tonight?"

Lexa rolled her eyes and threw the offending garment onto the bed with a huff. "Jesus Christ. Why do I not own anything green that isn't fucking  _hässlich?_ " 

"Why are you freaking out right now? Everyone looks stupid on St. Patty's Day, you won't be the only one." 

"I'm not freaking out, I just-" Lexa took a deep breath, schooling her emotions. She plopped down on her bed and groaned. This was going to be a long night.

"Don't sweat it Lex, it's just a stupid shirt," Anya reasoned. "Just wear black, who gives a shit?"

Lexa let out a sigh, rubbing her eyes. It wasn't really about the shirt (although it was _hideous_ ), she just had a lot going on inside her head. That was why she’d called Anya in the first place. The silence of the empty apartment was far too accommodating for her anxiety as she was getting ready.

"Tonight just has a lot riding on it, okay?"

And despite everything riding on it, Lexa also just  _hated_ clubbing. The lights, the loud music, the huge crowds, the  _sweat_. It was all terrible.

With that being said, Lexa was torn between the comfort of having Clarke with her at the club and the anxiety of having to be at the club  _with_  Clarke. Drinking with her,  _dancing_  with her,  _touching her_. Just. Too much right now.

Lexa was ashamed to admit that she’d even gone to lengths trying to avoid Clarke all together over the last two days. They hadn’t even had a chance to go over a game plan for tonight. In fact, in lieu of an engagement story, the best they’d been able to come up with over breakfast was: ‘just be vague, because the ring is all anyone gives a shit about anyway.’ Which was why Clarke had volunteered to stop by Macy’s on her way home to pick up some flashy, fake piece of junk to help overshadow the few remaining holes in their story.

Lexa felt bad for avoiding her, but she just couldn't afford herself the opportunity to do something stupid, like bring up the kiss. Or think about the kiss. Or  _do_  the kiss. Jesus.

"Look, if you're worried about whether what's-her-face is going to buy your whole lovesick puppy act, you're seriously getting worked up over nothing,” Anya assured. “From the way you talk about this girl, it seems all you two do is hang out and drool over each other. It's fucking gross. Makes me think there might even be some real-life fuzzy feelings going on in there."

Lexa's ears burned at the implication. Did she really talk about Clarke that much? She was suddenly glad for the low quality camera on her computer as the shame stained her cheeks.

"Don't be ridiculous, Anya, _"_  Lexa shook her head. "Me and Clarke are just friends." Well.

It was hard to define something that changed labels depending on the situation. She also wasn't quite sure what to call this feeling that had begun to pop up around Clarke, but it  _definitely_  wasn't fuzzy. Though she couldn't think of an accurate word that didn't sound gross. Hot? No...Throbby?  _No._ Vibrating?   _Definitely not._  

The closest she could get was kind of like an intense orange and yellow mixed with deep purple. Just sitting in the pit of her stomach. Likely borne from the four year sex drought she'd managed to fall into before subjecting herself to faking a sexual relationship with an attractive blonde.  

Regardless, all she knew was that she couldn't let this new unnamed feeling towards Clarke get in the way of their friendship. Or the plan. With the gears finally turning and things actually starting to work out, Lexa couldn't take the possibility of it all failing now. Especially over something as asinine as  _feelings._    

Her only plan of action for the time being was to continue to try and protect herself from falling victim to this. To try to distance herself from getting too 'intimate' with Clarke - for lack of a better word - until she could get this thing under control. That gave her – she checked her watch - 26 minutes to get a hold of herself before they had to meet up with Raven and Octavia at the club.  

Shit. 

"Right," Anya drolled. Patronizing as usual. "Well I guess I'll just leave you to your non-existent lady boner, then. Let me know how it goes."

Barely able to muster a grunt in response, Lexa flipped off the computer as the call dropped. 

As if out of spite, her phone buzzed next to her with a picture message from none other than Clarke herself. 

**Clarke:** On my way home now

**Clarke:** A LOT of pregaming on the 4. See you soon gf <#

**Clarke:** Img_140317

It was a picture of Clarke on the subway, smiling brightly and squished amid a sea of green party goers. It looked loud. 

Lexa also couldn't help but notice the form fitting green dress Clarke had on under her white blazer and how good it looked on her. She had to swallow around  _that_  feeling, which now crept up her throat, hot and thick like molasses, as she typed her response.

Throwing her phone back on the bed, Lexa ran her fingers through her hair and let out a sigh. She picked up the green blouse and grimaced at it.

" _Absolut scheußlich"_  She muttered before throwing it in the trash. Black it is.

This was going to be a long night.

 

 -

 

"Well aren't you two a sight for sore eyes," Raven greeted as Lexa and Clarke approached the entrance to the club, hands clasped and slightly out of breath.

"Sorry we're late, Midtown was a disaster," Clarke said, drawing Raven into a quick hug. "Where's O?"

"She got antsy and ran inside to scope the place out," Raven said, pulling her phone from her pocket. "I'll let her know you guys are here."

Clarke let out a shiver as she took in the outside of the club: a newer, crack-in-the-wall place in SoHo called 'The Arc'. From the outside it didn't look like much, but Raven and Octavia had insisted the DJ and the drink specials were amazing, so she could hardly argue when they'd suggested it.

It also didn’t hurt that this place meant lots of alcohol and music that was too loud to talk over. Clarke would have agreed to pretty much anything that reduced the amount of talking done tonight. Lying to strangers and government officials was one thing, but lying to Octavia? Lying to her _best friend_ of twenty years? It not only scared the shit out of her, but it just felt _wrong_. The less talking they had to do tonight, the better.

"You okay, Commander? I know it's St. Patty's Day weekend, but you're looking a little green in the face," Raven teased. "Oh shit, O's calling. Hold on."

When Clarke's gaze fell to Lexa, she noticed those steely green eyes fluttering nervously over to the masses of people making their way into the club. Felt the tell-tale tapping of those long fingers across her knuckles.  _Oh._

"Hey, you okay?" Clarke squeezed her hand gently, speaking low enough so that only Lexa could hear.

When Lexa's eyes drifted back to her from the crowd, she thought she saw them soften a bit. Though the edges were still cloudy with something nervous. Uncertain. Lexa just nodded slightly in response. It was almost imperceptible, but Clarke had learned to read Lexa's subtle gestures by now. Learned that she was almost  _too_  precise sometimes.

"We don't have to go in if you're not comfortable, Lex," she said, reaching over to still Lexa's fingers with her free hand, soothing them with her thumb.

Lexa glanced down at their joined hands and let out a long breath, shaking her head. "No, I'm okay."

Though it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

Clarke had been carefully reading Lexa's building anxiety over the last two days and wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Lexa had been quiet. Stiff. Like a bow pulled too taut. She seemed jumpy at Clarke's touch and, though she felt silly for thinking it, she even seemed to have been avoiding Clarke all together. Leaving for work early, working through lunch, and coming home late. She even kept her hands in her pockets the entire way to the club, avoiding taking Clarke's hand until they were right across the street.  

Clarke wasn't clingy or anything, but of all times for Lexa to get weird about touching her, this was quite possibly the worst. It was going to be hard enough to convince Octavia they were a couple without the additional pressure of Lexa’s sudden aversion to any and all physical contact.

Clarke just needed to get her to relax. Bring her head back down from wherever it was hiding.

"You know," she started, tentatively leaning into Lexa's shoulder, "I'm actually kind of nervous about tonight."

Lexa's eyes rose up to hers, somewhat surprised but also relieved. 

"I am, too," she confessed. "I just want to get this over with."

“I hear that,” Clarke agreed, pointedly taking a step closer. “Also, is it just me, or is it freezing out here?"

She let out another shiver and inched just slightly closer, enjoying the blush that rose in Lexa's cheeks as she invaded her personal space. Lexa gave her a look like she knew she was egging her on, which she was, but Clarke just smiled innocently up at her.

"If only there was some way, or some _one_ to help keep me warm out here,” she sighed.

Lexa rolled her eyes, though the corners of her mouth betrayed her, despite her best efforts.

"I told you, you should have brought a coat," she muttered as she wrapped her arms around Clarke's neck, bringing her closer into her body.

Clarke hummed into her chest, delighted. "Who needs a coat, when they’re fake engaged to such a hot piece of ass?"

She was happy to feel Lexa's muscles relax slightly, hear her chuckle into her hair.

"I guess you do have a point."

Clarke smiled as she buried herself further into the warm embrace.

They were brought from their bubble by a barfing noise.

"You guys are disgusting," Raven grimaced. "Save it for O, she's going to eat that shit up. Let's go."

 

  -

 

The inside of the club was dark. Crowded. Kind of damp. Lexa felt like she was inside an ant hill. She clung to Clarke's hand like a life line as the three of them weaved their way through the slowly building crowd. 

"She's got to be around here somewhere," Raven muttered as she turned a corner, leading them into a large, open room with a stage on the far wall and a number of free standing bars and booth tables along the others. It had a massive dance floor right in the middle.

"Wow, this is actually pretty nice," Clarke commented as she took in the expanse of the room.

Lexa was relieved to note that they had arrived early enough that the DJ had not taken the stage yet. She could at least get acclimatized to her surroundings before the lights went out and everything got too loud. Too out of hand. She looked around at the clusters of people milling about the room. Some talking, some dancing to the shitty warm-up playlist that hummed over the speakers, all of them drinking. 

She realized she couldn't wait to get a drink in her hand.

Suddenly there was a flash of green sequins and "What's up, bitches!" was all Lexa heard before a short brunette launched herself at Clarke.

Recovering quickly, Clarke reciprocated the hug, squealing.

"O! Oh my god, I've missed you so much."

The two women pulled apart, beaming. This must have been Octavia. She was certainly shorter than Lexa had imagined. Prettier, too. 

"I mean it's been long enough, you dingus. You better have missed me," Octavia teased, suddenly turning to Lexa. "And you must be the fiancé I've never met before!"

"Oh, right. Sorry," Clarke grabbed Lexa's hand and gestured between the two women. "Lexa, this is Octavia Blake, if you couldn't tell; Octavia, this is my fiancé, Lexa Woods." 

"It's so nice to finally meet you," Lexa held out her hand to shake, but it was swatted away as Octavia pulled her into a hug.

"Nah, you're family now. We hug each other here," Octavia said as she gave Lexa a firm squeeze.

This was going well so far.

"But just to let you know," Octavia said in a low voice as she pulled away, so only Lexa could hear, "if you ever hurt my friend, I will hunt you down and kill you."

Oh. Well, then.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now that we got our kumbaya-ya's out, can someone  _please_  get a drink in my hand? It's been too long since I've gotten irresponsibly drunk," Raven said, slinging her arm over O's shoulders.

Octavia's eyes lit up as she threw her arms in the air. "Shots!"

Prompting Clarke, Raven, and a number of nearby party goers to all respond with a resounding chorus of "Shots!" as if it were a battle call.

Lexa looked around, suddenly overwhelmed by the chaos. She felt like she was on another planet.

"Come on, Commander. Let's get you drunk," Clarke winked, grabbing her by the hand and leading her further into the club. 

Lexa could do nothing but follow. This was going to be a long night.

 

 -

 

"It's called 'Murphy's Law'," Raven said as she passed double shot glasses around to each woman, grinning. "The bartender said this is the quickest way to get shitfaced."

The light in Raven’s eyes was enough to tell Clarke she was probably going to regret this in the morning.

Taking a whiff of the green liquid, she coughed and blinked in surprise as it stung her nose. "Holy shit, Ray. What's in this?"

Lexa just eyed her glass suspiciously, keeping it at a safe distance.

"Nothing but green food dye and regrets, my dear Clarke," Raven smirked, holding her flute up in cheers. "Salud!" 

They all clinked their glasses together and threw the shots back. Raven and Lexa both recovered quite quickly, the latter merely smacking her lips together, while Octavia and Clarke chased theirs down with a mix of coughs and shudders.

"Woo!" Octavia whooped after catching her breath. "That's the good shit. Let's get another round!"

 

Two rounds later, the girls decided to slow down and find a booth along the wall to chat before the DJ came on and drowned out all possibility of conversation. Drinks in hand, they settled down around the dimly lit table, Clarke and Lexa on one side and Raven and Octavia on the other.

"So Lexa," Octavia began, taking a sip from her Long Island iced tea. "How did you meet Clarke?"

This was the part Clarke had been dreading the most. The interrogation. Raven's advice of 'just act like you're fucking' could really only take them so far.

"We actually met through Raven," Lexa recounted coolly, the alcohol in her system seeming to have offered her reprieve from her nerves. "I found her ad on Craigslist while looking for a roommate after I accepted my position at NYU and, luckily for me, Clarke ended up being part of the package."

"Damn right," Clarke winked, leaning over to nudge her gently with her shoulder. “It took a while, but she eventually warmed up to me.”

Octavia hummed, eyes passing over the two of them as she stirred her drink slowly. “So you two have known each other for…”

“About two and a half years,” Lexa supplied. “Though, as Clarke said, we were not very close for a while.”

Clarke felt bare under Octavia’s scrutinizing gaze.

"It's funny you two have known each other that long because I mean, now that I've thoroughly Facebook-stalked you both, I know you all went to Cancun together last year, but aside from that, I never would've even guessed that you two have been in the same room," she calmly took another sip from her drink. "Until recently, of course."

"Well, Lexa's not huge on social media, so..." Clarke offered lamely, hoping Octavia would just drop it and alter her line of questioning.

"I get that, but it's just weird that you didn't even tell  _me_ ,” her voice was incredulous, almost venomous, though tinged with a genuine hurt that made Clarke’s chest ache. “I mean, we've been best friends since birth and yet you don't even bother to tell me you're dating some hot doctor? Come on, Clarke."

Even Raven was starting to shift uncomfortably in her chair. She and Clarke exchanged a panicked glance across the table. She knew this was a bad idea.  

"It's actually my fault, Octavia," Lexa jumped in, lightly squeezing Clarke's thigh under the table. "Clarke and I didn't really get serious until after Mexico, and when I went to go work in Germany right after we came back, everything became too much for me."

Octavia's attention had turned to Lexa. There were traces of skepticism on her face, but she seemed to be intent on letting her continue.

"Raven didn't even know for a while. I asked Clarke not to tell anyone, because I honestly didn't know what we were or if we would make it until I got back. I thought bringing more people into the equation would just over complicate things, and I wasn't willing to risk it," she looked to Octavia with a shrug. "I'm sorry that you feel blindsided by this, but don't blame Clarke. It was selfish of me to ask her to keep it from everyone, especially from you. So if you're going to be angry with anyone, please be angry with me."

Octavia seemed to be weighing her words carefully, giving her drink another stir. "So where’s the ring?”

Three sets of eyes shot to Clarke’s bare ring finger at once.

_Shit._

It had been Clarke’s job to pick up a fake ring on her way home, but she had completely forgotten in her rush to be on time. Raven took a long swig from her beer and grimaced.

This was it. They were _fucked_. She should have known this was going to happen. How could she have been so-

“There is no ring,” Lexa piped up, suddenly.

Clarke looked over at her. Stunned. Especially to find she appeared surprisingly calm. The twitching of her fingers as they braided some straw wrappers together was the only indication of her unease.

Octavia shot Lexa an incredulous look. “No ring?”

“Nope,” she shook her head, glancing over to Clarke. “Right babe? You proposed to me with, what, a beer bottle label?”

_Babe?_ Clarke was momentarily taken aback by the nickname, but also impressed by Lexa’s quick thinking.

Her memory of that night may have been blurred by alcohol, but fashioning Lexa a makeshift ring out of label paper and getting down on one knee were certainly amongst the bits and pieces she’d been able to hold onto.

“That’s right,” she smiled, nodding. Thank god for Lexa’s fucking memory.

“Whoa, whoa, hold up,” Octavia gaped between them. “ _Clarke_ proposed?”

“She sure did,” Raven smirked, seeming to have recovered enough from her momentary panic to play along. “And she was super drunk when she did it, too.”

“What the fuck. _You_ were there?” Octavia turned to Raven, scandalized.

“Well, it’s actually a funny story,” Lexa started, now smiling fully, “Clarke, Raven, and I were all just hanging out, drinking, when - I actually don’t even remember what it was we were talking about, but right in the middle of our conversation, I turn to find Clarke down on one knee with this little paper ring, asking me to marry her.”

Octavia turned to gape at Clarke, her eyes wide, but alight with amusement.

“It’s true,” she shrugged. “I really didn’t even have a plan.”

“I honestly thought she was joking,” Lexa laughed, “but the next day, we sat down and had a serious talk about it, and-” she looked over at Clarke and smiled, full and bright, “and I still don’t know why she did it, but I’m so happy she did.”

Clarke couldn’t help the smile that broke out on her face. Her chest squirmed as she could see the barest hint of a blush gracing Lexa’s cheeks in the dim light and she just. This girl. She was so endeared by her, she didn’t even have to act.

“It was definitely one of Drunk Clarke’s brighter moments, I think,” she grinned, and in a show of affection, leaned in to press a gentle kiss to Lexa’s cheek.

“Awe Clarkey!” Octavia cooed, nudging Raven with her shoulder.

Well, at least she seems to have bought it.

Clarke let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and shot Lexa a grateful look out of the corner of her eye. She’d saved their asses with her quick thinking, and the best part was: they didn’t even have to lie. Not technically, anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, so cute. Until you live with it. Then it's just gross,” Raven waved her off with a scoff before downing the rest of her Guinness and slamming her glass down onto the table. “Now, I think we need to get at least two more rounds of Murphy’s Law before any of you gringas are ready for the dance floor. Vamos!”

Luckily, that was enough to win Octavia’s attention as she scooted out of the booth, squealing, leading the way to the bar.

“I guess that’s our cue,” Lexa nodded as she made to follow the other two.

“I guess so,” Clarke chuckled, sliding out of the booth behind her. “Quick thinking back there, by the way. Sorry I choked on you.”

Lexa merely shrugged, allowing Clarke to walk ahead of her as they began squeezing through the crowd where Octavia and Raven disappeared. Clarke tried to ignore the heat of Lexa’s body on her back as she followed closely behind her.

"Do you think she'll notice if I just get water?" Lexa muttered into the shell of her ear.

"I don't know, how good are your dance moves?" Clarke smirked, reaching behind her to slide her hand into Lexa’s.

Lexa looked down at their hands and considered it for a moment before nodding. "I guess a few more rounds can’t hurt."

 

By the time they got to the bar, the line was already at least five people deep. After a few minutes of small talk and Raven’s grumbling about shit service, Clarke was voted to fight her way to the bar to get everyone’s drinks.

“I’ll come with you,” Lexa volunteered, making to follow Clarke through the crowd.

“Don’t worry about it, Lex, I was a waitress all through college,” Clarke waived her off. “A shitty one, but I can definitely handle a few drinks.”

“I’m sure you can, but I’d still like to help you anyway,” Lexa insisted, keeping a firm hold on her hand.

“Okay,” Clarke shrugged, ignoring Raven’s jeers of ‘whipped’, followed by Octavia’s giggles. She certainly wasn’t going to argue with an extra set of hands. The crowd did look pretty rowdy.

“I also really don’t want to get stuck playing 20 questions with O by myself. She fucking scares me,” Lexa muttered as they walked away.

“Oh, I see, so you don’t actually care about helping me,” Clarke teased, shaking her head. “Chivalry really is dead.”

Lexa gasped, feigning offense.

“Clarke, you wound me,” she said indignantly. “I’ll have you know that I am known throughout the land for my chivalry.”

“Oh, are you now?” Clarke quipped, unable to keep a straight face as she glanced over her shoulder at Lexa’s pout. Damn, she was cute.

“I am,” she insisted. “Also for my irresistible charm and good looks.”

“And your modesty.”

“Of course,” she nodded. “I’ll charm your damn pants off.”

“Well lucky me, then.”

“Damn right.”

About an hour and a few too many shots later, the group found themselves just the right amount of drunk and getting ready to head out onto the dance floor.

Although the night got off to a bit of a rocky start, once the DJ took stage and the music became too loud to talk over, Octavia had been forced to drop her interrogation in favor of more drinking and Clarke found she was actually having a lot of fun.

“Oh my god. This is my jam!” Octavia slurred as the DJ began fading into the next lame club remix of some other popular song. “I’m going to go pee before we start dancing. Let’s go, Ray.”

Raven looked up at the sound of her name, eyes slightly out of focus. ”Who, me Ray?” she asked, gesturing to herself with a pointed finger.

“Yeah, you Ray,” O chuckled. “We’re on the buddy system. They’re default buddies.” She nodded her head at Lexa and Clarke.

“Oh, okay. I guess I’m going pee. Be right back you guys,” Raven called over her shoulder as she began following Octavia to the bathroom, “Don’t’ do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Clarke shook her head and turned to Lexa, who was just bobbing her head to the music, clearly starting to feel the effects of the alcohol in her system. Clarke, however, felt good. Just buzzed.

“How you doing, Woods? You okay?”

“I’m good, Clarke. I’m good,” she nodded, leaning in with a lopsided smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m not drunk. I’m German. It takes a lot more than this to get me drunk.”

Clarke giggled as the alcohol on Lexa’s breath stung her nose. “Well you certainly seem more relaxed than before.”

Lexa hummed, downing the rest of her gin and tonic in one swig. “I can be fun when I want to.”

“I bet,” Clarke mused, following suit and tossing back the rest of her Bay Breeze, smacking her lips together.

She turned back from placing her empty glass on the bar, to find Lexa giving her a strange, regarding look.

“What?” she asked, the suddenly serious look in Lexa’s eyes making her feel squirmy.

Lexa looked like she was debating with herself, whether or not to divulge. Chewing on her thought for a moment before a small smile appeared in the corners of her mouth.

"You just look really beautiful tonight, Clarke,” she said, the sincerity of her words making Clarke blush.  

Rico fucking Suave.

"You do, too, Lex,” she smiled. And in a bold move, took advantage of their proximity and smoothed her hands over Lexa’s silky, black button down shirt, taking a step closer. "I love the way this shirt looks on you."

And she meant it. While Lexa wasn't wearing _any_ green, despite Clarke’s insistence, the black-on-black ensemble seemed to accentuate all the right parts of her lean figure. She was always surprised by how good Lexa could make funeral clothes look. 

Then again, when you look like Lexa, you could make just about anything look good.

Lexa seemed conflicted for a moment, her cool demeanor faltering as she stiffly held her arms by her side before she tentatively placed her hands on Clarke's waist.

“You can touch me, you know. I don’t have cooties,” Clarke teased. “Also, we’re supposed to be engaged, remember?”

Lexa rolled her eyes and placed her hands more firmly on Clarke’s waist.

“Better?”

Clarke hummed and scooched herself closer, circling her arms loosely around Lexa’s neck. It was all for show, of course. Just acting the part.

It wasn’t hard to act attracted to Lexa; Lexa was an attractive woman. An _incredibly_ attractive woman.

Who was very close to her right now. And smelled amazing.

Maybe she was a little drunk. She should probably stop drinking for the night.

When Lexa’s gaze dropped to her lips, Clarke’s skin buzzed with anticipation.

Should she kiss her? Was that something they did now? She didn’t know. She also didn’t want to make Lexa uncomfortable.

It wasn’t even like anyone was really watching, so there was no need to kiss her, right? But still. Artistic integrity and all that.

Without thinking too hard about it, Clarke leaned her head in and placed a gentle, searing kiss dangerously close to the corner of Lexa’s mouth. A compromise. Lingering there for just a moment longer than was probably necessary.

Her heart pounded in her ears as she pulled away.

She should _definitely_ stop drinking for the night.

“Are we interrupting?” Octavia’s teasing voice came from behind them.

Lexa snapped away from Clarke as she turned to face them.

“Hi. Hey guys, sorry, we uh-we were just-” she was a sputtering mess.

“Jesus, calm down, Lexa. I was just kidding,” Octavia laughed. “You look like you just got caught with your hand in the cookie jar.”

Clarke’s whole face burned. She knew it was all part of the act, they _wanted_ to be seen, but she still couldn’t bring herself to meet Raven’s shit eating smirk.

It took her a moment to collect herself before she slipped back into character, tugging Lexa closer to her by her belt loop and wrapping her arm around her waist.

“Sorry, it’s hard to keep my hands to myself around this one,” she winked, patting Lexa’s ass. “Ready to dance, babe?”

Lexa’s eyes were wide. Whether with terror or amusement, Clarke couldn’t tell. Maybe a little bit of both.

“Sure thing, _babe_ ,” Lexa choked through a forced smile, throwing her arm over Clarke’s shoulder.

Not needing to be told twice, Octavia turned to lead them to the dance floor.

“Well then let’s go, bitches!”

 

-

 

Lexa wasn’t quite sure what a ‘Murphy’s Law’ was, but whatever it was, it made her hyper aware of every atom in her body. Mostly because they all refused to stop buzzing. She didn’t know whether it was from the music, or the dancing, or the throngs of people moving around her, but it made her feel unsteady. Bolder somehow, too. A dangerous mix, she was finding.

It also seemed to make Clarke _flirty_. Touchy. Well,  _touchier_. Which was not helping the buzzing.

It wasn’t that Lexa had anticipated not having to touch Clarke at all; in fact, she knew that the affectionate touches and small intimacies were all a part of their brilliant ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ plan, and that tonight was entirely doing just that, but still. She was finding that having this new flirty, touchy Clarke (who looked an _awful_ lot like regular Clarke) acting so, well, flirty and touchy, and leaving confusing lingering kisses on the corner of her drunken, burning lips was leaving Lexa alarmingly disarmed. Slowly breaking down the barriers she had put in place over the last two days. Making her do stupid things like blush at every small glance and telling beautiful girls how beautiful they were without her brain’s permission. And the worst part was: Lexa was alarmingly unfazed by it.

A sober Lexa would look at the current situation and be somewhat concerned. She went in tonight with some semblance of a game plan, but somewhere amid the drinking, and the dancing, and the more drinking, she seemed to have lost herself. Lost her boundaries. And found herself taken over by a slightly-less-sober, buzzing Lexa with little concern for their game plan and who, quite frankly, had _killer_ dance moves.

At least, she’d like to think so.

If you had told Lexa three weeks ago that tonight, she would be dancing in a club, sweaty, surrounded by strangers and actually _enjoying herself,_ not begging for death, she would have laughed in your face. Lexa didn’t _do_ clubs. And yet, here she was: throwing herself into songs she’d never heard, surrounded by people she’d never met, emboldened simply by the mixture of blonde hair and the buzzing of her drunken atoms.

Again, _alarmingly_ disarmed.

“What is this song? I love this song,” Lexa shouted as she moved with abandon in the middle of the crowded dance floor, the music thrumming in her chest.

Clarke, Raven, and Octavia were all dancing in close proximity to her, but at the moment were too far away to hear her over the music, so instead of trying to get their attention again, Lexa just threw herself further into the beat, closing her eyes and losing herself in sound.

“You having fun?” A voice close to her ear startled her out of her trance.

She turned to find a girl, maybe a few years younger than her, dancing very close to her with a playful glint in her eyes. She was very pretty. Bright, brown eyes, long, auburn hair falling carelessly over her shoulders, a tight, short, green dress accentuating her long legs and nice figure. Lexa didn’t have to be gay to know she was attractive.

“I’m Danielle,” she smirked, leaning in to talk in Lexa’s ear. “You got a name?”

“Lexa,” she said, offering the girl her hand to shake as they both kept dancing.

Danielle took her hand and held it loosely as she danced in closer. “Alexa?”

“No, just Lexa,” she corrected her. “There’s no A.”

“That’s pretty, I like it.”

“Thank you.”

She wasn’t sure where this was going, but she really wasn’t interested in small talk. Especially not when she’d have to scream the whole time to be heard.

“You’re pretty, too,” Danielle said, moving her hand to the inside of Lexa’s upper arm and dancing just a hair closer. _Oh._ Lexa’s eyes widened as the girl invaded her space. This was becoming too much. Her chest lurched uncomfortably at the intrusion, but Danielle didn’t seem to notice. “Do you have a last name, too? Or are you going to make me guess?”

“You know, I should, uh- I should go find my friends,” Lexa said, trying to put a bit of distance between the two of them, but Danielle’s hand on her arm kept them close.

“Wouldn’t you rather dance with me?” she purred, sliding her hand up Lexa’s arm to her shoulder.

Before Lexa even had a chance to respond, a flash of blonde hair obscured her vision as she was suddenly pulled into a hard kiss.

Danielle let out a noise of surprise at being pushed out of the way.

Barely able to respond before it was over, Lexa opened her eyes to see a familiar blue looking back up at her, sharpened by a steely kind of determination.

“Clarke?”

“Hey baby,” she cooed, giving Lexa a pointed look before taking her hands and wrapping them around her waist as she turned around to give Danielle an appraising glare. “Who’s your friend?”

Unspeakably confused and thankful for Clarke’s intervention, Lexa relaxed into her hold and played along, making a valiant effort to ignore the lingering tingle on her lips.

“Clarke, this is Danielle. She was just introducing herself to me,” Lexa explained, gesturing to the other woman. “Danielle, this is Clarke.”

“Her fiancé,” Clarke supplied pointedly, the tone of her voice starkly contradicting her fake smile.

The look of shock that had taken residence on Danielle’s face morphed into one of disappointed realization.

“Of course,” she huffed, nodding. “Well it was nice to meet you Lexa, Clarke,” she offered Clarke a resentful glare as she turned, stalking away into the crowd.

"That's right, bitch. Watch yourself," Clarke murmured, turning back around in Lexa's arms to face her as she continued dancing, looping her arms around her neck as if to further prove her point.   

"Getting a little possessive there, Griffin?" Lexa smirked down at her, their faces mere inches apart, despite their height difference.  

Clarke rolled her eyes, but didn't put any space between them.  

"She was all over you, it was pathetic," she countered. "Besides, nobody messes with my fiancé. Fake or not. I had to let her know what's good."   

“Damn Griffs, you shut that shit down _quick_ ,” Octavia laughed as she and Raven danced their way over to them. “That poor girl never saw what was coming for her.”

“Yeah, jealousy is a good color on you,” Raven winked. “Scary, but hot.”

“I’ve got to keep this shit on lockdown," Clarke merely shrugged, tightening her hold around Lexa’s neck just slightly. “Poor bitch must have fallen victim to all that irresistible charm and good looks you warned me about,” she winked up at her.

Lexa laughed full and bright, leaning in closer as the music changed to something a little louder and more upbeat. "I guess I can start calling you the old ball and chain, huh?"   

Enjoying putting on a show for Danielle, who was still watching them from the far side of the dance floor (and everyone else around them, it seemed), Clarke pulled Lexa closer, tangling her fingers in her hair, and put her mouth to the shell of her ear. Lexa could  _feel_  the smirk stretched across her lips.

"As long as you keep those hands on me," she husked, "you can call me whatever you want, Lexa."  

Holy  _fuck_. Maybe she’d had too much to drink, but for Lexa, hearing her name drip out of Clarke's mouth like that while they moved so close to one another sent her reeling. The two continued to dance without putting so much as a hair's distance between them. With the music playing and the alcohol running through her veins, the intimacy of the front of Clarke's body pressed so closely against her- the smell of her hair, the soft tickle of breath on her neck- it almost felt real. 

 

-

 

By the time they staggered out of the club to wait for their Uber, Clarke was ready to go home. She was sleepy and her feet hurt. She was also definitely more drunk outside than she had been inside. Everything was starting to seem fuzzy around the edges. As she glanced around the group, she noticed she was not alone. Both Lexa and Raven were moving with a dulled laziness that only ever accompanied a night of drinking, while Octavia was barely keeping herself awake, teetering dangerously on her feet as they waited on the curb. 

Now that it was the wee hours of the morning, and they were all covered in sweat, it was also much colder than it had when they'd arrived earlier that night.  

"Fucking freezing out here," Clarke grumbled, fighting back a shiver as she fought to stay on her feet. 

She hummed in surprise when Lexa took it upon herself to wrap her arms around her from behind, pressing her warm body against Clarke’s back. She didn't even have to ask this time. 

"S'better, babes?" Lexa asked lazily against the shell of her ear. It sent a shiver down Clarke's spine, but for a whole different reason. One she didn't linger too long on. 

Lexa was really getting good at this whole acting thing. Also, Clarke was  _really_  drunk. 

"Ah, chivalry lives," she mused, pressing further into the warm embrace.  

"I told you," Lexa murmured into her neck as she rested her head on her shoulder. 

A few moments later, a small black sedan pulled up to the curb. "Are one of you ladies Raven?" The driver asked. 

"The one and only," Raven said, offering a crooked solute. "Okay, kids, get your drunk asses in the car," she motioned to the others. 

The young man, Ricky, as he introduced himself, quickly got out of the front seat to help the women get into the car. Octavia, being the most unsteady, was ushered in first, sprawling out across the back bench. 

"Uh, is she okay?" Ricky asked when Octavia almost immediately began snoring. 

"Yeah, she's just a lightweight," Raven assured him, reaching in to push her over a bit and strap her into the middle seat. Standing back up, she turned to Clarke and Lexa, who were still standing huddled together on the curb. "Uh, do you guys want me to prop her up, so you can get in?" 

Clarke just waved her off, "No, let her sleep. We'll squeeze in."  

"Suit yourselves," Raven shrugged, sliding into the front seat and closing the door. 

Clarke reluctantly stepped out of Lexa's hold and peered into the back seat, noting that Octavia had really only left room for one person to sit.  

"Looks like we're lapping up, Woods," she said, motioning for Lexa to get in. 

Once Lexa was settled in the remaining back seat, Clarke climbed in after her, situating herself carefully on Lexa’s lap and pulling the door closed behind her. 

"Are we all in, ladies?" Ricky asked, peering through the rear view mirror. 

"Good to go," Clarke affirmed, flashing a thumbs up.  

As the car pulled away, Clarke had to hold on to the handle above the door so as to not to dislodge herself from her precarious seat on Lexa's lap. 

"You're okay. I've got you," Lexa murmured, wrapping her arms securely around Clarke's waist.  

Clarke turned to the side, mouth turned up in a smirk, "You don't have to keep showing me how chivalrous you are, Lex. I believe you now."  

"I'm a woman of my word," Lexa shrugged, a lazy smile settling on her lips. 

“You sure are,” Clarke mused, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Octavia was still out cold. “We did good tonight, too. I think she actually bought it.” 

“I think so too,” Lexa agreed. “At least, I hope she did.”

Clarke hummed her agreement. She knew they would still have to face her tomorrow, but for right now, she felt like the hardest part was pretty much over.

“Did you have fun?” she asked, turning back to face Lexa.

She seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding, “You know, I actually did. I hate stuff like this usually, but tonight it wasn’t so bad.” Her brow knitted in concentration as she picked a piece of glitter off from her pants distractedly. “You being there helped a lot.”

It was said with a tone of nonchalance that the deep flush of her ears betrayed and Clarke was surprised by the rush of affection she felt for her in that moment. She almost felt like she didn’t know what to do with it all.

Suddenly, Ricky drove over a bump, causing Clarke to throw her arms around Lexa's neck, at the same time, causing Lexa to pull Clarke more closely into her. 

“Holy shit,” she mumbled. The spinning in her head seemed to be amplifying the unsteadiness of the world around her.

When Clarke looked up at Lexa again, their faces were mere millimeters apart. Frozen.

In an instant, something shifted in the air between them. The same electric anticipation she'd felt at the bar buzzed just beneath the surface of her skin.  

"Is this okay?" She whispered into the small space between them. Though, she wasn't sure why. 

When Lexa's gaze met hers, the intense, blown look in her eyes surprised Clarke a bit, excited a deep down part of her. 

"Yes," she breathed. The moment was heavy with something Clarke couldn't quite place.  

She nodded. And then just because she could, and because she couldn't hold it inside her in that moment, she leaned forward and connected their lips. 

Unlike on the dance  floor, this kiss was soft, slow. Searching in a way that left Clarke feeling like the floor had been pulled from underneath her. 

It was also notably away from the prying eyes of onlookers. A fact which sober Clarke could worry about in the morning, because in this exact moment, all drunk Clarke could focus on was the feeling of Lexa kissing her back. 

As their lips moved against each other, Clarke turned her head to deepen the kiss, threading her fingers into the hair at the nape of Lexa's neck.  

When Lexa opened her mouth to let Clarke's tongue explore her, taste her more deeply, Clarke had to swallow her moan. Every inch of her skin was on fire. She couldn't remember the last time she'd kissed anyone like this. The last time she'd felt like this. Burning and dizzy and yearning. 

Lexa brought her hand up to stroke her jaw, sliding her long, nimble hands along her face to cup the back of her neck as she changed the angle of the kiss, sliding her nose along Clarke's as she did. 

Clarke wasn’t sure what was going on, but she couldn’t find it in herself to stop, enjoying the soft press of Lexa’s lips and the eager thrill that pounded in her chest. She felt consumed by sensation.

Only when her lungs burned for air did Clarke finally pull away from Lexa, taking pride in the small whine that escaped her.

Foreheads pressed together and slightly out of breath, they sat in charged silence for a moment, not daring to move. When Clarke opened her eyes, Lexa's focused gaze bore into her. Wide and searching. 

"What was that for?" She whispered.

Clarke glanced over at Octavia's sleeping form. What  _was_ that for? ‘Just because’ didn’t feel like a good enough answer.  She tried to think back to what was going through her head when she leaned in, but her mind was still reeling from the adrenaline of it all. And quite frankly, in this exact moment she couldn't find it in herself to care all that much. Drunk-Clarke wasn't really a thinker, anyway. 

"I don't know," she admitted with a shrug. "Was it okay?" 

Lexa's eyes glanced over Clarke's shoulder at the back of Raven's seat before flitting back to her, briefly stopping at her lips before settling on her eyes.  

"Yes," she nodded. The look in her eyes was honest. Vulnerable. A little hazy. Clarke couldn't help but acknowledge how beautiful she was in that moment. Face flushed, lips swollen and kiss-bruised.

The air sitting in the small space between them was charged and Clarke's chest burned with an anxious kind of anticipation. Of what, though, she couldn't say.  

Suddenly they were sucked back to reality when the car came to a stop outside their apartment building.

"Okay ladies, I hope you all enjoy the rest of your evening,” Ricky smiled as the lights came on in the car.

When she caught a glimpse of their reflection in the rearview mirror, Clarke was surprised to see the same blown look in her own eyes that she’d seen in Lexa’s. The matching hunger sitting between them, hair mussed and cheeks burning. She felt a rush of heat to her core.

She had a feeling she was going to enjoy the rest of her evening very much.

 

 

- 

 

 

Lexa didn't know how they made it up the elevator and into her room. She was especially unsure of how she'd managed to survive the cardiac unrest that had taken residence in her chest and amplified with every smoldering glance and lingering touch she and Clarke had exchanged on their way up, but the moment the door closed behind them, they were crashing into each other.

She wasn’t sure who moved first, but she really couldn’t care less. The only thing her mind could focus on was the fact that Clarke Griffin was kissing her. _Again._ She thought she was going burst when she had kissed her in the car, soft and heated and searching, but this? This was so much more. This was greedy lips and desperate moans attacking her senses, burning into her skin as she was haphazardly pressed up against the dresser. It was frantic, grasping. Pulling at the knot in her chest as she fought to reconcile reality with the scene unfolding before her 

Clarke moved from her lips to her neck and Lexa let out a sharp gasp at the feeling of soft skin under her fingers as they slid under the hem of Clarke's dress to stroke her thigh, riding up dangerously close to the slope of her ass. This was getting out of hand. She needed to regain control. 

While Lexa's brain was yelling at her to stop, her... _other parts_ were egging the rest of her body on, making it hard to wrangle her grasping limbs. Ultimately, her brain won out, but only by a small margin. 

"Clarke, Clarke wait," she panted against her lips, barely maintaining the self-control to pull away. Clarke groaned at the interruption, spurring another surge of fire to Lexa's core, but she held her ground. "We're both drunk and although I'm  _really_ enjoying this- like, I cannot stress enough how much I am enjoying this right now - we're both drunk and I really don't want to fuck up our friendship over a sloppy, drunken hookup that we'll probably not even remember in the morning." 

Clarke leaned her forehead against Lexa's, putting a few millimeters between their lips and nodded.

"Yeah," she panted. "Yeah, you're right."  

They were both still gasping for air, grasping to what little self-control they could muster as they pulled a little further apart. Clarke ran her hands from their purchase on Lexa’s neck down her front to the loops of her pants, clearing her throat.

"Would you stay here with me tonight?" She looked up with such soft, hopeful eyes that made Lexa's chest clench.  "O is here anyway, so, I mean, it’d be weird if you took the couch.” 

Lexa fought with herself for a moment. This was probably a bad idea.  Could she control herself while she’s lying next to Clarke in her _own bed?_ Feeling the heat of her skin so close after already knowing what it feels like under her fingertips? Under her lips?

_Her lips._ Lexa took in Clarke’s disheveled appearance from her tussled hair, to the flush claiming her cheeks, her neck, her heaving chest, and back to those insistent, kiss-bruised lips. In that moment, she felt stone cold sober. She thought Clarke might be the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Her head swam with swirls of pulsing yellow, orange, and intense deep purple at the lingering feeling of those lips burning into her skin, sighing into her mouth only moments ago.

It was all evidence of Lexa’s apparently blatant lack of control when it came to Clarke.

She _was_ right, though; it would look bad if she slept on the couch while Octavia was there. They had to keep the act up at least until tomorrow morning. Because that’s what it was: an act.

“Yeah, okay,” she nodded, swallowing around the lingering heat rising in her throat. “Just for tonight.”

 

After grabbing some sleep clothes, Lexa excused herself to get ready in the bathroom. Standing before the sink, she gripped the edges with white knuckles and let out a shaky breath, splashing some cold water on her face in an attempt to collect her nerves. When she looked up, she was surprised to see her puffy, kiss stained lips and hazy green eyes, blown to the rim, staring back at her through her reflection. Evidence of her weakness.

Her eyes shot to a single angry, red mark just beginning to fade on the side of her neck. Her own weakness may have allowed it to happen, but their tryst _was_ mutual, albeit heavily influenced by alcohol. She unconsciously ran her fingers over it.

_Nein. Hör auf._

Quickly shaking the thoughts from her head, she cupped some more cold water in her hands and ran it over her neck, willing the mark to fade more quickly.

Once her heart rate returned to normal (or as close as she was going to get tonight), she gathered her clothes and returned to the room.

After knocking gently (on her _own door_ ), Lexa slipped in to find Clarke already lying face down, sprawled out beneath the covers of her bed.

“Clarke?” She whispered as she tentatively crept towards the bed. As she got closer, she could see Clarke’s back rising and falling rhythmically with her breathing as she slept. She must have passed the fuck out.

Rolling her eyes as she fought off a surge of affection for her, Lexa lifted the covers and slid in as carefully as she could, trying her best to situate herself in such a way that she was not pressed up against Clarke’s sleeping form. It’d be a lot easier, though, if she wasn’t taking up the entire goddamn bed.

After a few minutes of grumbling and careful repositioning of Clarke’s limbs, Lexa was finally able to lay down, letting out a sigh as she slid further into the warm embrace of her bed. She’d nearly forgotten how comfortable it was.

She laid there for a while, staring up at the ceiling, willing her eyes to grow heavy, willing her atoms to stop spinning, willing her body to forget the fact that Clarke was lying just inches away from her. She swallowed the urge to reach out and touch her. Swallowed her weakness as she envied Clarke’s uncanny ability to mimic the dead as she slept. Peaceful. Care-free.

She said nothing in protest, however, when she turned over and slung an arm around her waist in her sleep, tucking her head into Lexa’s chest with a contended sigh.

She may have wrapped her arm around her back, pulling her in closer. She may have pressed her lips to the crown of her head, breathing in a heady mixture of blonde hair and alcohol. She may have let the last remaining shred of her walls crumble at the feeling of Clarke’s warm lips pressed into the crook of her neck as she settled further into her embrace.

She may have, but it was impossible to tell, as her mind finally succumbed to sleep.

She’d worry about it in the morning.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anya and Lexa's conversation in German:  
> A: "So..."  
> L: "So, what?"  
> A: "So, how was it?"  
> L: "I don't know"
> 
> hässlich = ugly  
> Absolut scheußlich = ‘Absolutely hideous/disgusting’  
> Nein. Hör auf. = kind of like 'No. Stop it.'
> 
>  
> 
> YEah so sorry again about the delay. I have weekends off now for the first time in nearly 10 years, so hopefully I'll be putting stuff out more quickly! Thank you, again, for your support. It means the world to me.
> 
> Next chapter is kind of fluffy and Clarke gets a surprise.
> 
> As usual, you can reach me at Lesbotps on Tumblr.
> 
> -Ross


End file.
